USAID: Quality Fertiliser Will Improve Food Security, Poverty Alleviation

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The United States Aid (USAID)director, Michael Harvey, has said that quality fertiliser will improve food security and ensure poverty alleviation in Africa.


He stated this in his remarks at the 2nd Annual West Africa Fertiliser Stakeholders Forum with the theme “Scaling Up Quality and Adapted Fertiliser Supply in West Africa” in Abuja, last week.

He said that the theme for discussion in the programme was directed to address the factors impeding supply, distribution and efficient use of quality fertilisers in West Africa and not leaving out the fertiliser portions of national agricultural budgets in the region devoted to fertiliser subsidies.

“The programme was aimed to draw the attention of the often overlooked but crucial roles that fertilisers play in agricultural productivity and also targeted to bring together the major players of the fertiliser industries in the region so as to find practical ways to make fertilisers available and affordable to farmers in various regions,” he said.

He added that increasing agricultural productivity is a cornerstone of the US government’s  feed the future strategy as well as a top priority for the ECOWAS and USAID through efforts like the West Africa Fertiliser programmes to make available quality fertilisers across the region. Harvey reiterated with concern that the agricultural productivity in this region should not be neglected because West African farmers have the lowest yields in comparison with other regions in the world and unless actions are taken, West Africa will be unable to feed its growing population projected to reach 500 million in 2050,

Adding that West Africa is not taking full advantage of the yield potential on current agricultural land, the use of fertilser and fertiliser consumption targeted on 50kg/ha to be achieved by 2016. It appears no West African country has managed to meet 25 per cent of this goal.

He recalled that the ECOWAS heads of states in December 2012, adopted new regional fertiliser regulations that began the process of harmonising procedures for production, trade and quality control of fertiliser across the region, and also ensuring that farmers get value for what they purchased. The director further posited that the forum will also include the importance of the role which the private sectors can play in helping nations ensure a more efficient and transparent supply and distribution of appropriate, reasonably priced fertilisers in the region.