ECOWAS Seeks Harmonised Fertiliser Policy Among Member States

Fertilizer

The  Africa Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnerships (AFAP) Regional director, Mr Pierre Brunache has said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has firmed up plans to harmonize fertilizer policy among its member states.


This according to him is to be achieved with the 2nd West Africa Fertilizer Stakeholders Forum(WAFSF) to discuss the subject and many other critical issues with the theme: “Scaling up Quality and Adapted Fertilizer Supply in West Africa,” in Abuja.

According to Brunache, “About 30 per cent  of the recent global increases in cereal production in West Africa are due to increased use of quality fertilizers, and the need to enhance fertilizer use has been highlighted since the Abuja Summit in 2006.”

He noted that “Increased fertilizer use has become a cornerstone of Africa’s agricultural productivity agenda even as  fertilizer consumption levels in West Africa are generally below 10 kg/ha compared to  a world average of 107 kg/ha. This is also far below the target of 50 kg/ha set by African governments to be achieved by 2015.”

The fertilizer expert noted that obstacles to achieving the target of 50 kg/ha include limited access to credit and finance, inefficient and high-cost port operations, sub-optimal lot sizes and weak distributor and agro-dealer networks among several others.