IITA and partners launch campaign to promote access to fertilizers for African farmers
September 3, 2014
Farmers applying fertilizers in the fieldAddis Ababa – IITA and partners including the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), and five other agricultural development partner organizations are launching a new campaign that will promote the importance of fertilizer access for African farmers as a means of bridging the current agricultural productivity gap on the continent.
The campaign will be launched today at the African Green Revolution Forum(AGRF), a three-day event that brings together the global agricultural community to discuss and coordinate strategies for achieving the Green Revolution in Africa.
“We hope this campaign will prompt action by the research and development community to include its approaches into their agendas for African food security, poverty alleviation, and rural development and also raise awareness and underst anding of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM),” says IITA’s Director General Nteranya Sanginga. IITA develops best-fit practices on ISFM including sustainable intensification of farming systems, as part of its research on natural resource management.
According to Charlotte Hebebr and, IFA Director General, “Fertilizer use in Africa remains startlingly low compared to other regions, with average use at around 10 kg/ha, a tenth of the global average.” As the voice of the global fertilizer industry, IFA aims to raise awareness on fertilizer’s role in reducing the yield gap and driving African agricultural development.
African leaders have pledged in the 2006 Abuja Declaration to bridge this gap and increase fertilizer use to 50 kg/ha by 2015. However, very few countries have met this goal.
The campaign calls for six key actions to help the African continent to address this challenge, namely:
Facilitate local production and import of fertilizers
Provide better access to credit, finance, and insurance
Invest in infrastructure which connects farmers to input and output markets
Develop mobile technologies
Train more extension workers to work with farmers
Disseminate best practices based on the integration of both organic and mineral nutrients and balanced fertilization, such as the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Framework and ISFM
An expert session at the AGRF to launch the campaign demonstrated the partners’ consensus on the importance of efficient crop nutrition for agricultural development but also for poverty eradication and broad-based economic development.
Chaired by Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, the distinguished panel of experts included Prof Richard Mk andawire, African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP); Dr Jeroen Huising, IITA; Stephanie Hanson, One Acre Fund; Rutger Bonsel, IFA member Stamicarbon; and Vanessa Adams, USAID Ethiopia.
“Developing agri-inputs supply chains in Africa,” said Commissioner Tumusiime, “is key to increasing the productivity and competitiveness of agrifood systems. Realizing the potential for agricultural transformation to yield broad-based prosperity and help extricate a majority of African people, especially youth and women, from poverty will require access to such inputs but also many other investments.”
Other campaign partners include the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), CNFA, the International Potash Institute, and One Acre Fund.
The African Green Revolution Forum is an important platform for public-private dialogue, and lays the groundwork for the Green Revolution to reach the African continent.
The campaign also coincides with the 2014 International Year of Family Farming and the African Union Year for Agriculture and Food Security.NOTES TO EDITORS:Smallholders’ Access to Fertilizers Campaign
Downloadable materials:
Smallholders Video | Issue Brief | Letters to Heads of DelegationThe International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) is a trade association representing the global fertilizer industry, which provides the crop nutrients that allow farmers everywhere to meet the world’s growing food, feed, fiber and bioenergy needs in a sustainable manner. IFA member companies represent all activities related to the production and distribution of every type of fertilizer, their raw materials and intermediates. IFA’s membership also includes organizations involved in agronomic research and training. IFA has some 550 members in about 86 countries. http://www.fertilizer.org/The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) is an independent non-profit created by a partnership of African development organizations. It builds on the work of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a framework for achieving ambitious agricultural development goals set in place by African nations and leaders. CAADP was founded in 2003 as part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Its purpose is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty by growing the agricultural sector in Africa. http://www.afap-partnership.org/The African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) is a community of African Heads of States, Ministers, farmers, private agribusiness firms, financial institutions, NGOs, scientists and citizens who come together regularly to discuss and coordinate strategies for achieving the Green Revolution in Africa. http://www.agrforum.com/The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) conducts research that provides solutions to nourish Africa and focuses on addressing hunger, poverty, and degradation of natural resources in the tropics. It works with public and private sector partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and promote sustainable livelihoods from agriculture. It is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a global research partnership for a food secure future. http://www.iita.org/
For more details, please contact: Andrea Gros, a.gros@cgiar.org+234 2 7517472+234 2 7517472 or +1 201 633 6094+1 201 633 6094About IITAwww.iita.org
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
Olamide Deborah Nwanze is a Senior Research Associate specializing in gender mainstreaming research to inform participatory and inclusive breeding, variety development, and seed systems policies regarding root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan and holds an MSc and B. Agric in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. Olamide is a fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development – Gender Responsive Agricultural Systems Policy (AWARD-GRASP) and the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT). She seeks to apply her gender-mainstreaming learnings, gender-responsive research, and policy development, and review expertise to facilitate women, youth, children, and vulnerable social group’s access to and adoption of agricultural Innovations that guarantee food, nutrition, income, and livelihood security in Africa. Her current roles include mentoring research fellows, development of guides and training manuals, implementation and adaptation of gender frameworks and tools, value chain actors’ engagement as citizen science partners, policy review and redesign, data management, and analysis. Her current research explores mixed methods and participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to capture and highlight gender dynamics, needs, preferences, and challenges stakeholders face within the agricultural livelihood value chain to prioritize gender-inclusive strategies in breeding programs, policy design, and implementation.
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