This paper provides an overview of the state of agricultural mechanization across the Global South – i.e. Eastern and South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean – and explores the potentials and risks of agricultural mechanization for the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems. A wide range of technological and institutional solutions is identified to harness the potential of agricultural mechanization for sustainable agrifood system transformation, while at the same minimizing the risks.