India has made noodles out of Modi’s message

Nestlé's noodles were back on Indian shelves this week after a five-month ban for alleged lead contamination

When Nestlé’s Maggi noodles were declared one of India’s most trusted consumer brands last year, alongside Colgate, Dettol and Nokia, a Bangalore commenter on the Economic Times of India’s website retorted: “It is time that India and Indians wipe out all foreign brands from this list. It needs to make its mark in the world.”

By coincidence, what one minister dubbed the country’s “Inspector Raj” was about to take action. A food inspector plucked a Maggi packet from a shop in Uttar Pradesh in January, starting a farcical sequence of events that culminated in Nestlé incinerating 400m packets of innocent noodles. Only this week, after global sales were dented, has the brand returned to the shelves.

 Narendra Modi, India’s reform-minded prime minister, is visiting the UK and Turkey this week, bearing his “Make in India” appeal to multinationals, backed by the easing of barriers to foreign direct investment. But the Maggi noodles case shows that national leaders may talk but tax authorities, food inspectors and local bureaucrats often do not listen.

In claiming - on the basis of disputed evidence - that Nestlé’s noodles contained too much lead, India’s main food inspection body blithely undermined Mr. Modi’s welcome. It added to a growing realisation among multinationals that emerging markets are not the one way bet, full of eager customers, they once hoped. These are tricky territories in which it is easy to get entangled.

 In a sense, they always knew it. Only the truly naive thought it would be as easy to move into China as into Cincinnati. But the risks appeared to be containable, especially when they were being lured by smiling politicians, and the rewards for leaping into the unknown great. In practice, there have been more pitfalls than some realised and lesser rewards.

The economic climate does not help. China’s rate of growth has dropped and Brazil and Russia are expected to contract this year. Goldman Sachs has closed its Brics fund, dedicated to profiting from the potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China, due to underperformance. Foreign investors can no longer surf a wave of rapid growth.
Meanwhile, the regulatory setbacks multiply. Nestlé’s noodles imbroglio follows others for foreign multinationals in India, notably over tax. Vodafone won a victory in the Mumbai High Court last month over an effort by India’s tax authorities to raise its liabilities by hundreds of millions of dollars. The same court ruled last year in favour of Shell over a similar claim.

Foreign multinationals can at least rely on the Mumbai court to be dispassionate. Its judges gave short shrift to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in August, describing its decision to ban nine varieties of Maggi noodles on the basis of flawed tests as in breach of natural justice.

Other countries are equally testing. GlaxoSmithKline was fined £300 million (CHF457 million) by a court in China last year after becoming a public example in its crackdown on bribery. Sifiso Dabengwa, chief executive of the South African mobile company MTN, which sells services across Africa and the Middle East, resigned on Monday after regulators in Nigeria fined the group $5.2 billion (CHF5.22 billion).

Foreign multinationals are not the sole targets of officious supervisors. Nor are they solely at risk in emerging economies, as European banks have found in the US. Several large Chinese state-owned enterprises and their senior executives have suffered badly from the country’s anti-corruption campaign. But foreigners present obvious targets when times are tough.

That puts a premium on fitting in, not merely by adapting the Big Mac to local culture and selling Chicken Maharaja Macs instead, but becoming part of the fabric of the economy. “You cannot afford to be regarded as the imperialist. You must show how you benefit the country,” says Peter Williamson, a professor of international management at Cambridge university.

But Nestlé did not do very much wrong, and certainly not enough to deserve a 20 per cent fall in its sales in India. Its mistake came after the fact rather than before, in failing to respond quickly and assertively enough to the accusations. By the time it hit back, the claim that its noodles were poisonous was all over social media.

Nestlé was no arriviste trying to cram a global product down local throats. It has operated in India for 103 years and started manufacturing there in 1961. Maggi has been a popular brand since its launch in 1983 - noodles that could be cooked in a few minutes, were cheap enough for most people and fitted with their busier lives.

Nestlé India has been quoted on the Mumbai exchange since 1968; it employs 7,000 people directly and another half a million indirectly; it takes milk and dairy supplies from 100,000 farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan; it runs global research and development for noodles in India; and it has nine health laboratories. It is not, in other words, a stranger.

It is customary in such cases to ask what the big corporation should have done better and Nestlé will learn lessons, especially in how it communicates. But it was India’s fault rather than Nestle’s and the moral for growth economies is this: if the rewards for coming to your country have fallen, you must reduce the risks too.

Ogbe Pledges To Turn-round The Agricultural Sector

Audu Ogbe

The new Minister of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbe, has pledged to turn-round and re-position the agricultural sector.

Ogbe who made the pledge on Wednesday at the Headquarters of the Ministry in Abuja together with the Minister of State for Agriculture, Heinken Lokpobriu, lamented that Nigeria spends over $22billion per annum in the importation of food items.

He stated that following the dwindling resources accrued from oil and gas sector of the economy, that agriculture has become the mainstay of the economy in terms of job creation, poverty alleviation and wealth generation.

According to him, “This Ministry will carry a new burden now. Oil and gas has served the country well only that we did not manage its resources well.

“Now, the pressure of this country is for diversification. The attention is turning again to agriculture. So how we are going to make it work, to respond to the new dynamics is the burden that all of us will carry together.
“We have to intensify research, marketing at home and abroad. We have to deal with the issue of reducing the import burden of food which is almost $22billion a year.

“I don’t know how to explain why we are importing banana or Arish potatoes from South Africa or vegetables from South America into our shops.

“We import honey worth $100million from China every year and $400million worth of tomato paste. What is even worse which we will together deal with is the nutrition problem.

“Cancer, liver and kidney failures is 25per cent as a result of what we eat. I am not a medical doctor. But I remember what Chinese normally say, you are what you eat.

“A lot of poisoning is getting into our food system, simply from poor packaging only.”
The new minister of Agriculture said he would give priority attention to the improvement of the quality of seeds and fertilizers used by Nigerian farmers.

Ogbe further assured that during his tenure that the nutritional quality of what Nigerians eat would improve, adding that the recent report of UNICEF on Nigeria’s level of nutrition indicated that about 37 per cent of Nigerian children are malnourished.

He also underscored the need for the ministry to create an enabling environment for theyouth in order to attract them into the agricultural sector, in view of the large aging population in the sector and huge population to feed.

To this end, he promised to work with the management and staff of the ministry as a team to realise the set goals and objectives.

Don’t Buy Adulterated Seeds, FMARD Warns!

Arc. Sonny Echono

The National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) has organized a Farmers Field Day in Abuja to create awareness on the benefits of improved seeds to increase the nation’s food production.

Mr. Olusegun Ojo, the NASC’s Director-General said that the council is organizing the campaign in order to enlighten farmers on the importance of improved seeds.

The DG, who advised farmers to buy seeds from reputable seed companies or agro-dealers, urged farmers to look for the council’s blue certification to ascertain quality seeds adding that the council was doing seed promotional activities annually to demonstrate superiority of high quality improved seeds over the local ones as a strategy to encourage seed diffusion.

“Any seed package offered for sale without the seal of the NASC certification tag is fake and should not be purchased,” he warned.

Representing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Permanent Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, said the government, through NASC, has ensured that improved seeds were available for farmers every year, reiterating the fact that an increase in awareness of improved quality seeds will go a long way to boost productivity.

According to Echono, the campaign is aimed at showcasing the potential of newly improved crop varieties for farmers to adopt in order to boost their productivity, adding that it would assist in enlightening farmers and students on the benefits of using improved seeds as against the farmer’s saved seeds.He stated that the Ministry and NASC are working closely with the traditional rulers to create awareness so that farmers can adopt and utilize high quality and high-yielding seeds.

Echono while warning farmers not to patronize adulterated seeds added that the ministry is demonstrating to farmers what the outcome of using improved seeds will be if carried out according to instructions by our extension service workers, emphasizing that the ministry had adopted measures to curb the menace of the unscrupulous seed merchants.

He gave assurance that the seed council, which has the statutory responsibility of enforcing the provisions of seed law as it relates to selling fake and adulterated seeds, would ensure that the problem was addressed.

FG To Mainstream Nutrition Into Agriculture

Echono inspecting the stand of Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State during the fair

The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to build nutrition into its mainstream agricultural activities, using bio-fortification, home fortification and large and medium scale fortification in a value chain approach.

This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono, at the International  Nutritious Food Fair which took place at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Station, Kubwa, Abuja, where he represented the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

The Permanent Secretary stated that the present Administration views bio-fortification as complementary to dietary enrichment and has therefore embraced a broad and comprehensive food systems approach to address malnutrition.

He said, “We easily visualize how food fortification fits into broader agribusiness model to make nutritious food available, accessible and affordable to enable us provide diverse foods and make more foods more nutritious”.

Echono further explained that after a full decade of promoting large scale fortification, it should equally be of importance to optimize industry compliance to expected food fortification standards. According to him, the bio fortified crops currently promoted   include the Vitamin A rich cassava and orange flesh sweet potatoes.

He said Nigeria’s agricultural sector’s vision is to achieve a hunger-free country through an agricultural sector that drives an all inclusive income growth, accelerates achievement  of food and nutritional security, generates employment and transforms Nigeria into a leading player in global food markets to grow wealth for millions of farmers.

To achieve this, he said the government has embarked on a comprehensive review and resuscitation plan that revolves around unlocking the potentials of agriculture through a total value chain to enable the private sector leadership grow food, create jobs and wealth, as well as improve nutrition.

According to him, malnutrition, especially inadequate mineral and vitamins to women and children, posed a major challenge to the health of citizens, saying available statistics have revealed that 30% of our children and 20% of pregnant women are malnourished; a situation he said was not acceptable.

He therefore emphasized the need to develop and multiply more production nutrient rich crops and scale up bio-fortification research through research institutes like IITA and Nutritional Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI).

We’ve formed over 400 Village Credit & Savings groups in Imo State -RUFIN

Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madunware with RUFIN Mission Team

Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madunware with RUFIN Mission Team during a courtesy call on the deputy governor during the 11TH FGN/IFAD follow-up supervision mission for the RUFIN programme in Imo recentl.

 

No fewer than 400 Village Credit and Savings groups, in the three participating local government areas, had been linked to financial service providers through Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN).

This was disclosed by the Deputy National Coordinator, RUFIN, Mrs Ufaruna Uneku while fielding questions from AgroNigeria in Owerri, Imo State capital during 11^TH FGN/IFAD follow-up supervision mission for the RUFIN programme recently. She said:  “So far in Imo State, the Village Credit and Savings groups that had been formed and strengthened thus far is over 400 in the three participating local government areas namely: Ezinihitte Mbaise, Ideato North and Isiala Mbano.

These groups according to her, had been linked to financial service providers. She maintained that RUFIN as at today boasts of seven financial service providers in Imo State where they have four microfinance banks and three financial NGOs and “the Bank of Agriculture Limited which make it eighth.”

The monitoring and evaluation expert said the programme has done well in Imo State in spite of the fact that the state government is yet to pay its counterpart funds for the past five years. “IFAD decided to cover the gap by injecting funds for the implementation of the programme in Imo State so that the rural poor are not dragged to the mud as a result of this missing gap in funds. We formed Village Savings and Credit groups of 20 to 25 members each,” she said.

EU AMBASSADOR DISPELS RUMOURS OF MASS AGRIC EXPORT BAN

Michel Arrion

The European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and West Africa, HE Michel Arrion, has dispelled rumours of the ban of the exportation of all fresh agricultural products from Nigeria to European markets. He stated categorically that only dry beans was banned, and this was done to protect the health of European consumers.

Speaking  in an interview conducted on the sidelines of the 4^th EU-Nigeria Business Forum, held at Eko Hotel, Lagos between the 5^th and 6^th of November, 2015, Arrion rejected accusations of European protectionism, stating that Europe does not even produce dry beans.

“This is a matter of the protection of the health of consumers. We had to take this unfortunate decision because of at least 60 rejections of Nigerian dry beans at European ports”, Mr. Arrion said. He blamed the situation on the high content of banned and harmful pesticides in dry beans. These pesticides, according to him, are usually added by post-harvest warehousing traders to such products, to treat and preserve such maximally till export. However, the pesticides could result in serious medical conditions, some of which may not manifest until 20 years after ingestion.

“We hope Nigeria will ensure the stakeholders are using the appropriate products to fight insect infestation”, he said. Arrion added that “it is also a matter for Nigeria and West Africa, as such banned dry beans rejected at European markets will eventually find their way into the local Nigerian market, and neighboring countries like Niger and Cameroun”, thereby putting the populations of such countries at risk too.

On suggested solutions to the index trade problem, the EU Ambassador noted that the EU has maintained a good rapport with the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) for over two years. The challenge, however, according to him, is that the EU is not capable of forcing the Nigerian agency to do its job; banning the harmful insecticides in this case. The EU is however helping the SON and other relevant agencies reform their processes in consonance with international norms, not exclusive EU norms.

“We are confident that, within one year, Nigeria should be able to change the regulation to better monitor the use of the banned pesticides”, he assured, giving hope of an eventual lift of the ban in a not-too-distant time.

NABG, Netherlands sign MoU

Stakeholders and Nigeria Agribusiness Group and Netherlands Topsector Agrofoods recently in Lagos.

As part of efforts towards the successful return of Nigeria’s agriculture into the mainstream as a major source of national revenue, several efforts have been put in place by stakeholders towards that direction. One of those laudable efforts was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Nigeria Agribusiness Group and Netherlands Topsector Agrofoods recently in Lagos.

The agreement which was part of the activities at the recently concluded 4th European Union Business Forum which held in Lagos was facilitated by a group known as The Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG).
The areas of interest as enumerated by the chairman of NABG and Group Vice President Dangote Group, Alhaji Sani Dangote include  the  provision of a platform for private sector cooperation between the Nigerian and Dutch agricultural and food industries, provision of an advisory platform for governmental policies in food security, economic diversification and bilateral agricultural relations, cooperation in improving production, the value chains in specific agricultural produce, food processing and export policies, among others.

Specific emphasis on horticulture, cassava, fish farming, rice and dairy, to discuss policies and action to improve agrologistics including but not limited to dialogue between relevant Dutch and Nigerian players about cold storage, to provide a framework for export improvement in cooperation between NABG, RVO/CBI, and the NEPC. This may include dialogue about export policies at Nigerian, Dutch and EU-ECOWAS levels, to discuss and advice on how to improve research institutes and programmes in Nigeria.

The governmental facilitators include The Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development of the Republic of Nigeria, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria, The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

In his remarks, The Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria, John Groffen applauded the growing market for Nigeria’s agricultural products globally but lamented its suppression by the nation’s dependency on oil. He therefore urged the stakeholders to key into the window period of the spotlight on agriculture and revive its lost glory.

The consensus was a prospective bright future for both countries as the mutual benefits would help the development of both countries. There was also a call on the present administration not to discard laudable policies but to harmonize them into a better and more rewarding one.

Nigeria plans rice and wheat self-sufficiency within three years

Nigeria aims to be self-sufficient in both rice and wheat production within three years, a document by President Muhammadu Buhari's administration seen by Reuters showed on Saturday, a massive undertaking given current production levels.

The policy document was circulated among Buhari's ministers, whose portfolios are yet to be announced, on a two-day retreat. It also proposes overhauling the mining sector, including efforts to "ensure local and foreign investment" in the industry.

However, the five-page document did not provide details of how the administration led by the 72-year-old former military ruler would fund the planned changes in Africa's biggest economy, which has seen a slowdown in growth.

Buhari has previously stated long-term plans to encourage local manufacturing in Africa's largest oil producer, which has been hit by a fall in global crude prices.

"Self-sufficiency in rice production within 24 months" and "self-sufficiency in wheat production within 26 months" are goals in the agriculture section of the document, which also calls for "market guarantees for farm produce".

About 3 million tonnes of rice was produced in Nigeria last year, along with 64,000 tonnes of wheat, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) figures show.

The West African nation is the world's second largest importer of rice and among the biggest buyers of U.S. wheat.

In 2012 it imported 2.3 million tonnes of rice - a record high, say U.N. statistics which also show some 4.1 million tonnes of wheat was brought into Nigeria in the same year - nearly double the amount imported in 2000.

The central bank has restricted access to foreign currency to import 41 categories of items, including rice, to stop a slide of the naira.

Nigeria stepped up import controls when Buhari led a military government in the 1980s.
The document also stated plans to "build a major north-south road within 36 months". Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said a 25 billion naira ($126 million) infrastructure fund would be set up to improve the road, rail and power networks.

The creation of one million houses for the poorest of Nigeria's 170 million inhabitants within four years "using methods that create jobs" was also among policy goals outlined in the document seen by Reuters.

High food prices, power tariff push up inflation to 8.8 %

Foodstuffs on display at a stall in a market. Fruits, among other food crops, have registered increase in prices

Kampala. Reduced supply of food crops in the market coupled with high electricity tariff have pushed Uganda’s annual headline inflation rate to 8.8 per cent for the year ending October 2015 compared to 7.2 per cent recorded in September.

This is the highest inflation rate Uganda has recorded since September 2013 when the country’s annual headline inflation rate stood at 8.4 per cent.

The rise in the country’s inflation levels implies the general public is facing the problem of high food prices and high energy charges amid stagnated income.

Main drivers
On October 30, Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) said the main drivers of the annual headline inflation during this period were foodcrop inflation which rose to 20.2 per cent for the year ending October 2015 compared to 10.2 per cent increase recorded in September 2015.

Ubos explains that the other driver responsible for the inflation increase is the annual energy fuel and utility inflation that accelerated to 11.9 per cent for the year ending October compared to 3.8 per cent for the year ended September 2015, on account of the increase in electricity tariffs.

Last month, Electricity Regulatory Authority announced 17.4 per cent in electricity tariff retail end users, a development that impacted more on domestic consumers (households) than the large commercial users (the industrialists).

Domestic consumers are to pay nearly 20 perc ent more in the next three months. They will have to part with Shs667.4 per unit, up from Shs558.4. Commercial consumers see their rate jump to 18.9 per cent to Shs604.6. Medium industrial users will see their power costs rise by 17.4 percent to Shs577.1. Large industries - after some lobbying - see their rate rise by 15.9 per cent to Shs386.1.

Releasing the Consumer Price Index at Statistics House in Kampala last week, Ubos director macroeconomic statistics Chris N. Mukiza attributed the increase in foodcrop price in the market to reduced food supply because of the off harvest season.

“The general public will have to bear the brunt of the high prices because food is needed and is consumed by people every day,” he said.

Uganda is an agricultural country but it lacks food storage facilities meaning whatever is produced in a given period of time is consumed or wasted without taking precaution of the future in time off harvest season consequences.

Dr Mukiza said: “What needs to be done to solve the problem of low food supply during the off harvest is having storage facilities to store food during the time of harvesting season.”

BoU predicted rise
While announcing the Central Bank Rate for October, Bank of Uganda predicted an increase in inflation. In the next six months, the Central Bank projected that inflation will rise in the range of 8 to 10 per cent.
BoU projected El Nino rains would result in higher food crop prices leading to heightened inflationary pressure.

“External sources of inflation are likely to stay generally benign, given weak global conditions. On the domestic front, the exchange rate depreciation experienced over the last 12 months is yet to feed through completely to prices and will therefore continue to put upward pressure on inflation,” BoU governor Tumusiime Mutebile said.

Core inflation declines
While the annual headline has increased, annual core inflation for the year ending October 2015 declined to 6.3 per cent compared to the 6.7 per cent recorded in September 2015.

Dr Mukiza said the decline in the annual core inflation could be attributed to tight monetary policy in place by the Bank of Uganda (BoU).

BoU last month hiked the Central Bank Rate to 17 per cent from 16 per cent citing inflationary pressure and exchange rate depreciation.

BoU said it is better to have tight monetary policy than high inflation because of its impact on the public and economy . “To ensure that the medium term inflation converges towards the BoU’s policy target of 5 per cent, a further monetary policy tightening is warranted,” governor Tumusiime Mutebile said.

Other factors
Affected foodstuffs. The food crops that registered increased prices during the month are: Matooke, Irish potatoes, fruits, pineapples, mangoes, onions, tomatoes green pepper, beans, maize flour, and sugar in most centres.

Uganda’s rising population. In an interview with Daily Monitor, senior research fellow at Economic Policy Research Centre Swaibu Mbowa (pictured above) said Uganda’s population growth is one of the highest in the world.

This means that the size of the arable land for food crop growing is being eroded by the increasing population size thus reducing the size of the farm land where food is grown.

“Population growth in Uganda is 3.4 per cent per annum and agriculture growth rate on annual basis is 2 per cent, while food crop growth is either 1 per cent or -1 per cent. This is problematic; the population figures are catching up with us because there is need for more food which is instead reducing,” he said.

Dr Mbowa said there is need to increase food production in the country through land intensification, something which is currently not there. “The rain has just started and the farmers are just beginning to plant food crops, some of the households have already consumed all the food they produced in the previous season,” he said.

Depreciating Shilling. Dr Mbowa further blamed the inflation increase on the depreciation of the Shilling which is making cost of imported goods to go high.

Predicted growth. Uganda’s economy is being projected that it will grow by 5 per cent this fiscal year but the current inflation rate is above it.

Speaking about the economy, Dr Mbowa said: “Uganda is an economy which is dependent on imports because the productivity in the economy is still very low which contributes to slower growth; with the dollarisation of some items, it will be tough for us because we shall continue experiencing the depreciation of the Shilling against the US dollar.”

High cost of production. According to the Producer Price Index statistics released last month, imported raw materials and rising interest rates had pushed up the cost of production. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics figures show that prices of manufactured goods rose by 10.5 per cent in August 2015, up from 8.1 per cent in July 2015.

A weaker Shilling, which makes the import of raw materials more expensive remains on the largest contributors to rising costs of production.

New technology to help farmers use fertilisers, boost their yields

A farmer in his field of climbing beans. The Fertiliser Optimisation Tool (FOT) enables such farmers know the right amount of fertiliser to use and what the economic returns will be at harvest time.

Most people who know about Uganda and its natural resources have the impression that the country is blessed with fertile soils. Yet this is contrary to what soil scientists have found.

A study done by National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) Kawanda shows that Uganda faces severe soil nutrient depletion. This is because many farmers keep tilling the land over and over again without applying practices that maintain soil fertility.

Calculate the amount
Therefore, it is recommended that small holder farmers should maximize fertilizer use alongside organic manure to improve soil nutrients.

The most important ingredients required to increase soil fertility are Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous (NPK). Other secondary components include calcium, magnesium, sulphur, copper, iron, manganese and zinc.

The scientists have come up with Uganda Fertilizer Optimization Tool (FOT). It is computer-based tool used to calculate the required amount of fertilizer as per the monetary fund allocated for a specific agricultural activity per unit hectare. It also indicates what a farmer will earn from the output invested.

NARL is working on this project with University of Nebraska. In US, the FOT has been applied by farmers and has worked well.

The profit
Dr Cranmer Kayuki Kaizi from NARL, explains that what is considers the land area the farmer wishes to plant for a particular crop and expected commodity value at harvest, the cost of fertilizer and the finance available to the farmer for purchase of fertilizer.

The profitability varies greatly depending on which nutrient is applied to which crop and at what rate.
FOT was developed for crops such as sorghum, beans, rice, groundnuts and maize. Currently, the team is in the process of developing this tool to cover other crops.

It is availed to extension workers who show farmers on how to calculate the fertilizer rate for a particular crop and estimate average yield and net returns.

The target is extension workers in various African countries: namely, there are Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Niger.

Guide farmers
Calculations are made with MS Excel, and a farmer will be able to know that if he or she applies 50kg of urea on one hectare, the yield will amount to 44kg of maize grain per hectare.

For the case of rice, if fertiliser is purchased amounts to $60 (Shs204,900) to the hectare, the farmer will be in position to reap $700 (Shs2,390,500) per hectare. Therefore, the tool enables farmers to apply fertilizer depending on the economic return.

The tool also helps guide the farmers on which crops to invest in and the fertilizer usage. In Uganda, it has been tried in Kapchorwa, Aleptong, Arua, Tororo, Sironko, Apac districts and it is to be introduced in Kisoro, Kabale and Ntungamo districts.

The implementing partners, CABI and NARL have trained Community Knowledge Based (CKB) trainers in Kapchorwa and Mbale district, where the software is loaded on mobile phones.

Increased yields
Sam Satya, the coordinator, explains that using FOT has advantages such as farmers with little cash at hand being in position to buy fertiliser at whatever quantity in a bid to get good yield.
Farmers who growing other crops not covered by FOT are at a disadvantage because they are not able to make use of it.

So far, about 300 farmers in Mbale and Kapchorwa have adapted the FOT technology and they have realized increased yields.

Farmers have learnt which quantity of fertilizer to purchase for an acre of land because previously they were applying 50 kg of either urea or diammonium phosphate (DAP) on one acre. Yet, by applying FOT, a farmer can use 30 kg of urea and 12 kg of DAP for one acre and still reap better yields.

A farmer who used 50kg of urea would harvest eight bags of maize but now by using less quantity of urea, he or she can harvest 20 bags of maize. This means application of the tool is useful.

Farmers are advised to measure the fertiliser and mix it with soil per hole, and by the time it spread across the field and it rains, the fertilizer would have been absorbed.

Managing soil fertility
In case of farmers lack money to purchase fertilizer mainly urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP), they may grow legume crops, which fix nitrogen in the soil.

Cover crops such as Macuna, Chlotolaria and soya bean are key nitrogen-fixing crops that farmers are encouraged to grow during fallowing of their fields.

It is also advisable for farmers to embrace use of inorganic fertilizer like urea because 100kg of urea contains 46% nitrogen compared to 100kg of organic manure, which contains 1% nitrogen.
However, planting of legume crops is a good practice farmers that can apply in managing soil fertility.