Posted on March, 6, 2019 at 09:06 am
By Halligan Agade
African countries should only allow importation of quality fertilizers that will help the continent to compete with other global giants on the international agricultural export market.
Speaking during the 10th annual Argus Africa Fertilizer conference in Marrakesh Morrocco, African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), Country Director for Malawi Sheila Keino said farmers particularly in Kenya need to be informed about different types of fertilizers for different crops through extension services.
“We are partnering with OCP-Group in terms of market analysis, we help them in terms of information needed for different soils in the east and central Africa region”,Keino says.
She however says that they will open a Kenyan office in the next two to three months which will look into what Kenya needs in terms of the policies on the ground, what does the small scale farmer need and how does a small farmer in Turkana access fertilizers and how much do they need for their maize, legumes and vegetables.
Currently AFAP is in eight countries among them Kenya and Ghana and they are trying towiork had in hand with OCP to make sure that farmers in this region are getting trained and are accessing quality fertilizers that can help increase crop yields.
Sheila adds that the East and Central Africa region and specifically Kenya must come up with ways to help both small and large scale farmers with much needed information on how to use different fertilizers for different soils and crops.
On the other hand African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Sacko Josefa Leonel says the continent is currently under-utilizing fertilizer which is a key component in the food production and crop yields.
“Currently Africa is only utilizing just about 3 percent of the fertilizers produced globally with the countries in the Northern Africa among them Egypt and Morocco consuming 70% of what is used in Africa”, Josefa says.
She added that it is quite evident that there is a need for innovation and use of science and technology to maximize training and application of skills in the agriculture sector to boost food production. That it is the responsibility of the African countries to make sure that they are utilizing high quality fertilizers that can help farmers export farm produce that are competitive on the international markets.
OCP Africa Group, which is the largest fertilizer producer in Morocco, is currently involved in training farmers in Africa on good selection of farm inputs and crop husbandry in efforts to boost production.
Its Chief Executive officer Karim Lotfi Senhadji says “The world’s population is growing, and agriculture remains the largest employer in Africa. This is why the Group’s primary mission is to contribute to better feeding the planet by providing farmers with the tools they need for better food production”.
He further said that innovation is the key to prosperous and sustainable agriculture and provides farmers with new solutions enabling them to improve their yields while preserving the environment.
The Group is investing in new technologies that generate fertilizer recommendations that meet the needs of the soil and the dictates of climate change.
This coming even as predictions point to the fact that African population will be about 2.5 billion people by 2050 a pointer that concerted efforts must be put in motion to feed that huge number of people.