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Table of ContentsTheme: Nourish the Soil...Feed the Continent

Message From the Board Chairman and the President and Chief Executive Officer .......... 1Highlights of the Africa Fertilizer Summit .......................................................................... 5

Global Leaders Call for an African Green Revolution at Africa Fertilizer Summit .......... 6Soil Nutrient Mining .................................................................................................... 10Food Imports Soaring ................................................................................................... 12NEPAD CEO Concerned About Infrastructure .............................................................. 12Crops Don’t Grow on Air ............................................................................................. 13Former President Jimmy Carter on Fertilizer and the Environment ............................... 14Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug: “You Can’t Eat Potential!” ........................................ 14Destruction of Forests and Wildlife .............................................................................. 15Food Aid Should be Limited ........................................................................................ 16Biggest Disaster on Earth .............................................................................................. 16Complex Problems Demand Comprehensive Solutions ............................................... 17Fertilizer Production in Africa ...................................................................................... 18Potential for Local Production of Phosphate Fertilizer .................................................. 20The Challenge Ahead ................................................................................................... 21Behind the Scenes at the Summit ................................................................................. 22Africa Fertilizer Summit Declaration ............................................................................ 24

Project Highlights of 2005/06 .......................................................................................... 27Farmers and Soil Fertility Management ........................................................................ 28

Soil Nutrient Mining in Africa: Implications for Resource Conservation and Policy Development ................................................................ 28IFDC in Africa: Linking Farmers and Markets .......................................................... 29Soil and Nutrient Dynamics Program ...................................................................... 32Integrated Soil Fertility Management ....................................................................... 35Farmer Education .................................................................................................... 37Fertilizers and Sustainable Agricultural Development and Farmers for the Future Projects .......................................................................................... 39Agricultural Production Program in Mali ................................................................. 40Adopting Nutrient Management Technologies ........................................................ 42Fertilizer Production ............................................................................................... 43

Private Sector Development ......................................................................................... 45Market and Management Information Systems ........................................................ 45Strengthening Networks of Regional Market Information Systems and Traders’ Organizations in West Africa ........................................................... 46MISTOWA: Making Market Information Available to Stimulate Trade in Africa ...... 46From Thousands to Millions—Linking Farmers to Markets Through Scale-Up of the CASE Approach .......................................................................................... 50Favorable Socioeconomic and Policy Environments for Soil Fertility Improvement ........................................................................................... 54Policy, Trade, and Markets Program ........................................................................ 54Marketing Inputs Regionally .................................................................................... 56Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (Nigeria) ....................................................................................................... 58Uganda Agricultural Production Enhancement Program .......................................... 59The Role of Input Vouchers in Pro-Poor Growth ..................................................... 59Rebuilding Agricultural Markets in Afghanistan Program......................................... 60Food for Agricultural Revitalization and Market Systems ......................................... 61Agricultural Marketing and Production Support ...................................................... 62

Project Portfolio ............................................................................................................... 68Publications, 2005/06 ....................................................................................................... 71Financial Highlights .......................................................................................................... 73Revenue Sources .............................................................................................................. 74Global Offices and Staff ................................................................................................... 75Board of Directors ........................................................................................................... 81IFDC Profile ..................................................................................................................... 83

President OlusegunObasanjo of Nigeriasaid in his openingremarks at the AfricaFertilizer Summit, “Tofeed our people, wemust first feed thesoil.”

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AcronymsABMC—Association and Business Management Center

(Albania)AFA—Arab Fertilizer AssociationAFAMIN—African Agricultural Market Information

NetworkAfDB—African Development BankAFDI—French Farmers and International DevelopmentAIDTDP—Agricultural Input Dealer Training and Develop-

ment ProjectAIMS—Agricultural Input MarketsAISSA—Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan AfricaAMPS—Agricultural Marketing and Production SupportANMAT—Adapting Nutrient Management TechnologiesAPCAM—Permanent Assembly of Chambers of Agriculture

(Mali)APEP—Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Program

(Uganda)BARC—Bangladesh Agricultural Research CouncilBKFSH—Albanian National Farmers UnionBSAIDD—Batken and Sughd Agri-Input Dairy

DevelopmentCAADP—Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development

ProgramCAM—Committee of Horticultural ActivitiesCARE—Cooperative for Assistance and Relief EverywhereCASE—competitive agricultural systems and enterprisesCGIAR—Consultative Group on International Agricultural

ResearchCIAT—International Center for Tropical AgricultureCIMMYT—International Maize and Wheat Improvement

CenterCLUSA—Cooperative League of the United States of

AmericaCNFA—Citizens Network for Foreign AffairsCPIDS—Cereal Production Information and Decision

Support SystemCPPs—crop protection productsCPS—commodity production sitesCSD—Combating Soil Fertility Decline to Implement

Smallholder Agricultural Intensification in Sub-SaharanAfrica

CSM—crop simulation modelDAIMINA—Developing Agricultural Input Markets in

Nigeria

DAP—diammonium phosphateDFID—Department for International DevelopmentDGIS—Directorate General for Development CooperationDSS—decision support systemEAC—East African CommunityECA—Economic Commission for AfricaECOWAP—Economic Community of West African Agri-

cultural PolicyECOWAS—Economic Community of West African StatesEDP—Enterprise Development ProjectEU—European UnionFACIA—Federation of African Agricultural Input Trade

AssociationsFAO—Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

NationsFARA—Forum for Agricultural Research in AfricaFARMS—Food for Agricultural Revitalization and Market

SystemsFASEPE—Favorable Socioeconomic and Policy Environ-

ments for Soil Fertility ImprovementFDP—Fertilizer Deep PlacementFfF—Farmers for the Future ProjectFFP—Food for ProgressFSAD—Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable AgricultureGAIDA—Ghana Agricultural Input Dealers’ AssociationGAIMS—Ghana Agricultural Input Market StrengtheningGAPTO—Ghana Agricultural Producers’ and Traders’

OrganizationGEF—Global Environment FacilityGIS—Geographic Information SystemIAEA—International Atomic Energy AgencyIAR—Institute for Agricultural Research (Nigeria)IARC—International Agricultural Research CenterICARDA—International Center for Agricultural Research in

the Dry AreasICRA—International Center for Development-Oriented

Research in AgricultureICRISAT—International Crops Research Institute for the

Semi-Arid TropicsICS—Industries Chimiques du SenegalIDE—International Development EnterprisesIDSS—information decision support systemIFA—International Fertilizer Industry AssociationIFAD—International Fund for Agricultural Development

Note: Mention of sub-Saharan Africa in this report does notinclude South Africa.

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IFPRI—International Food Policy Research InstituteIITA—International Institute for Tropical AgricultureINERA—Institute for the Environment and Agricultural

ResearchISFM—integrated soil fertility managementJAC—Joint Action CommitteeKAED—Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Development

ProjectLEAA—Livestock Entrepreneurs Association of AlbaniaMAAHF—Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Health, and

Food (Afghanistan)MAPI—Mali Agricultural Production InitiativeMARKETS—Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key

Enterprises in Targeted SitesMIR—Marketing Inputs RegionallyMIS—market information systemMISTOWA—Market Information Systems and Traders’

Organizations in West AfricaMMIS—Market and Management Information SystemsMoCN—Ministry of Counter Narcotics (Afghanistan)MRRD—Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Develop-

ment (Afghanistan)NAFCON—National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria, Ltd.NARES—national agricultural research and extension

systemsNARS—national agricultural research systemsNCST—national capacity strengthening teamsNEPAD—New Partnership for Africa’s DevelopmentNGOs—nongovernmental organizationsNPK—nitrogen, phosphorus, potassiumNRM—natural resource managementPDES—Livestock Development Program of the Soum

Province, Burkina FasoPDRSO—Southwest Burkina Faso Development ProjectPR—phosphate rock

PRDSS—phosphate rock decision support systemPRODEPAM—Program for the Development of Agricul-

tural Production in MaliPTM—Policy, Trade, and Markets ProgramRAFIA—Research, Support, and Training for the Initiatives

of Self DevelopmentRAMP—Rebuilding Agricultural Markets in Afghanistan

ProgramRESIMAO—Network of West African Market Information

SystemsROESAO—West African Network of Economic Operators

in the Food IndustryROPPA—Network of Farmer Organizations and Agricul-

tural Producers of West AfricaSAADA—Strategic Alliance for Agricultural Development

in AfricaSADC—Southern African Development CommunitySCOSA—Sustainable Commercialization of Seed in AfricaSIMFIS—Simulation Mixed Farming in the SahelSNDP—Soil and Nutrient Dynamics ProgramSPFS—Special Program on Food SecurityTSBF—Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility InstituteUDP—urea deep placementUEMOA—West African Economic and Monetary UnionUN—United NationsUPA/DI—Union of Agriculture Producers/Development

InternationalUSAID—U.S. Agency for International DevelopmentUSDA—U.S. Department of AgricultureUSG—urea supergranulesWOTHRO—Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical

Research (Netherlands)WSP—water-soluble phosphateWTO—World Trade Organization

Acronyms (continued)

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Message From the Board Chairmanand the President and Chief Executive Officer

Nourish the Soil...Feed the Continent

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Partnerships: The Key toMaking Things Happen

No single institution can resolve the complexissues of agricultural development. Partnershipswith other organizations that have experienceand expertise are essential for the transfer oftechnology, and for market development. Our

partners include national and regional agricultural institutions, theprivate sector, other international research agencies, and donors. Allare partnering to serve one ultimate partner: the smallholder farmer.

Four examples of such alliances over the past year include:• Implementing the Africa Fertilizer Summit in Abuja, Nigeria,

in June 2006. To make that happen, IFDC worked with theNew Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), theAfrican Union, African farmer and input dealer organizations,the Government of Nigeria and 40 other African nations, TheRockefeller Foundation, and many other sponsors.

• Initiating the Strategic Alliance for Agricultural Developmentin Africa with the Dutch Government in 2006. Through thealliance, and in partnership with a host of local organizations,the Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE)approach will be scaled up in West Africa, and extended toother critical regions of Africa.

• Designing and implementing a national agricultural inputsupport program in Afghanistan by partnering with the U.S.Agency for International Development, the U.K.’s Departmentfor International Development, the Government ofAfghanistan, and private sector suppliers of agriculturalinputs. The synergy provided a market-friendly approach,using vouchers, to supply agri-inputs to help about 700,000Afghan farmers earn a living from licit crops.

• Conducting leading-edge research in the IFDC pilot plant andlabs to help develop products that increase the demand for,and efficient use of, plant nutrients. For this IFDC works witha range of firms, from start-ups to multinationals.

Partnerships: The Key toMaking Things Happen

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The Africa Fertilizer Summit was one of thelargest meetings in history to focus on Africa’sfood problem. Heads of state and governmentscalled for elimination of all taxes and tariffs onfertilizer in the historic Abuja Declaration onFertilizer for an African Green Revolution.Summit participants also agreed on 12resolutions designed to increase fertilizer use byfive times in 10 years in the Abuja Declaration.

The Summit has opened new windows ofopportunity for agencies to address the complex issues of removingyield constraints and improving soil fertility and food security inAfrica. All stakeholders realize that urgent, comprehensive, and long-term actions are needed if Africa is to restore soil health and feed itsburgeoning population.

The obstacles to agricultural development in Africa are enormous andlong-standing. Human, institutional, and research capacity, as well asphysical infrastructure, must be built to enable Africa to competeeffectively. Policies should be changed to encourage business andinvestment. Furthermore, as history has demonstrated, countries musttake charge of their own futures if they are to build better futures fortheir children.

IFDC wants to help partner agencies achieve key developmentobjectives, including the promotion of integrated soil fertilitymanagement, and improved farmer access to agricultural inputs—andthe technologies they embody. IFDC will work with partners at alllevels to:

• Build human and institutional capacity by training private sectorinput dealers and establishing trade associations.

• Help countries take charge of their futures by providing adviceand demonstrating best practices such as smart subsidies, andincreasing competition and transparency through marketinformation systems.

• Encourage regional economic communities to improveharmonization of policies and regulations and thus, increaseintraregional trade.

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IFDC can draw on experience in Albania, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Central AsianRepublics, and elsewhere that can be shared with partners in Africa. Examples include thevoucher system for inputs introduced in Afghanistan; reforms in fertilizer distribution anddeep placement urea technology for rice in Bangladesh; the pioneering development oftrade associations and commodity chains in Albania; the commodity auction and creditsystems used in Albania, Kosovo, and now Afghanistan; and the decision support systemsand crop modeling being designed for farmer use in North Africa and the Near East.

The coming year promises to be an exciting period for expanding IFDC partnerships toserve smallholder farmers.

M. Peter McPherson Amit H. RoyChairman, IFDC Board of Directors IFDC President and CEO

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Highlights of the AfricaFertilizer Summit

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Global Leaders Call for anAfrican Green Revolution atAfrica Fertilizer Summit

The Abuja Declaration calls for liftingall taxes and tariffs on fertilizer

“Nourish the soil, feed the continent”

Heads of state and governments of more than40 African nations called for an African GreenRevolution and declared both mineral andorganic fertilizers a “strategic commoditywithout borders”—meaning that all cross-border taxes and tariffs should be lifted—in theAbuja Declaration on Fertilizer for an AfricanGreen Revolution.

The historic document was written at theconclusion of the Africa Fertilizer Summit, anAfrican-led initiative held June 9-13, 2006, inAbuja, Nigeria. The Summit’s theme was“Nourish the soil, feed the continent.”

The Summit’s 1,100 participants included5 African heads of state, 15 ministers of agri-culture, 17 members of the Summit’s EminentPersons Advisory Committee, and hundreds ofleaders of international organizations, agricul-tural research centers, and private sectorcompanies.

The Call for an AfricanGreen Revolution

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, at a July 5, 2004, meetingof food security specialists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pointedout that the Green Revolution had tripled food productivity inAsia, but…

Africa has not yet had a Green Revolution of its own.

The Secretary General then called for a strategy to bring foodsecurity to Africa:

Let us generate a uniquely African Green Revolution—arevolution that is long overdue, a revolution that will helpthe continent in its quest for dignity and peace…Given theright kind of national and international support, Africacan achieve the 21st century Green Revolution that itneeds…And let us never again allow hunger—needlesshunger—to ravage lives and the future of the continent.

President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria later repeated thecall and pointed out why per capita food production in sub-Saharan Africa has decreased over the past three decades:

The main reason for Africa’s food shortages is soil nutrientdepletion. Africa loses about $4 billion worth of plantnutrients from its soils each year due to continuous cultiva-tion without nutrient replenishment…We must feed the soil,that feeds the people...If Africa is to rapidly enhance itsability to feed itself, we need what the UN Secretary GeneralKofi Annan has called for—a uniquely African GreenRevolution. This will require an increase in the use offertilizer…Therefore, African governments have decided totake action to catalyze large-scale adoption of fertilizer.

Subsequent calls for an African Green Revolution were fromNobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, President ofthe Sasakawa Africa Association; and former U.S. Presidentand Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jimmy Carter ofThe Carter Center inAtlanta, Georgia,U.S.A.

Collective voicessuch as these led tothe Africa FertilizerSummit, to plan theAfrican GreenRevolution.

The Second Technical Advisory Committeemeeting was held in Abuja, February 8-10, 2006.Left to right are: Dr. Akin Adesina, RockefellerFoundation; Dr. Amit Roy, President, IFDC;Hon. Mallam Adamu Bello, Minister of Agricul-ture and Rural Development, Nigeria; andProf. Richard Mkandawire of NEPAD.

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“Due to decades of soil nutrient mining,Africa’s soils have become the poorest in theworld,” the Abuja Declaration states. “Amove toward reducing hunger in Africa mustbegin by addressing its severely depletedsoils. It is estimated that the continent losesthe equivalent of over $4 billion worth of soilnutrients per year…Yet farmers have neitheraccess to nor can they afford the fertilizersneeded to add life to their soils. And nocountry in the world has been able to expandagricultural growth rates, and thus tacklehunger, without increasing fertilizer use.”

The Abuja Declaration also calls for theAfrican Development Bank (AfDB) to estab-lish an “African Fertilizer DevelopmentFinancing Mechanism” to support regionalfertilizer procurement and distribution facili-ties, provide credit for fertilizer importers anddistributors, and develop local fertilizermanufacture in Africa.

To catalyze startup, Nigerian PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo committed $10 million tothe fund. The African Union Member Statesagreed to pledge additional funding.

“It’s Africa’s time”

“It’s Africa’s time. The African Union strongly commitsitself to these concrete action plans to end Africa’s soilfertility crisis.”

—Alpha Konare, President of the African Union Commission

“Africa’s leaders are ready and we will solve this crisis.”—Denis Sassou-Nguessou, Former President of the

Republic of Congo and Chairman of the African Union

“This august gathering…heralds a crucial milestone inour quest to rapidly reverse our low agricultural produc-tivity and accelerate food productivity for our people.”—Olusegun Obasanjo, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

“We believe in the tremendous potential of an AfricanGreen Revolution. But to make it a reality will requirethe collaboration of national governments, the privatesector, and the donor community. The need is great, andthe time is right. We at the Rockefeller Foundation standready to offer our best help.”

—Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation

“The Africa Fertilizer Summit deserves the fullest sup-port of leaders of Africa.”

—Adamu Bello, Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development, Nigeria

Participants at the Second Technical AdvisoryCommittee meeting.

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The Summit’s Eminent Persons AdvisoryCommittee met at the Rockefeller Foundationheadquarters in New York City on March 30,2006.

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The Rockefeller Foundationand the Green Revolution

The Rockefeller Foundation’s foresight, energy, andfinancial support made possible this strategic Summit,which is catalyzing the African Green Revolution thatthe continent so desperately needs, and deserves. This isfitting; the Foundation provided the vision and supportthat triggered the Asian Green Revolution, which mayfeed 1 billion people today. Once again, the RockefellerFoundation is helping make history—and IFDC is proudto be its partner in this pioneer initiative.

—Amit RoyIFDC President and CEO

Fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa is theworld’s lowest, averaging only 8 kg/ha yearly(Figure 1). The African Union states resolvedto increase fertilizer use to at least 50 kg/haby 2015 in the Abuja Declaration. That wouldincrease production by no less than 25%.

“Cereal yields in Africa have stagnated atabout 1 ton per hectare for the past threedecades, and per capita food production hasdecreased,” said Dr. Amit Roy, IFDC Presi-dent and CEO (Figure 2). “In contrast, foodproduction has increased dramatically in the‘Green Revolution’ countries of Asia, wherefarmers use from 80 to more than 150 kg of

fertilizer per hectare.”

The dramatic increases in agricul-tural production in Asia were mostlythrough higher yields, but Africa’s farlower increase has been mainlythrough expansion of land area (Fig-ure 3).

The Summit was the largest andmost comprehensive effort ever toaddress Africa’s agricultural crisis. Itwas convened by the AfricanUnion’s New Partnership forAfrica’s Development (NEPAD),with strong backing from the Gov-ernment of Nigeria, the RockefellerFoundation, and other donors. TheFederal Republic of Nigeria hostedthe Summit, which was chaired byPresident Obasanjo, who also chairs

NEPAD’s Implementation Committee. IFDCimplemented the Summit.

The Technical Committee meeting included a pressbriefing. Holding the microphone is Hon. Adamu Bello,Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,Nigeria. To his right is Ms. Ama Pepple, PermanentSecretary of Agriculture, Nigeria.

Source: Derived from FAO data.

Figure 1. Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa use only about 8 kg/ha offertilizer yearly. The world average is 93 kg/ha and Green Revolutioncountries of Asia use 100 to 200 kg/ha.

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Action! Not talk

Fertilizers are crucial to any strategy to improve farmproduction in Africa. With 65% of its labor force inagriculture, Africa’s low productivity means endlesspoverty, reliance on food imports, few financial invest-ments, and finally, political instability…

The Africa Fertilizer Summit emerges fromnew dynamism in the continent, withgreater emphasis on agriculture, policiesthat foster the private sector, and a needto utilize the continent’s fertilizer re-sources. It will strongly contribute to thegoals of the Comprehensive Africa Agri-culture Program of the African Union’sNEPAD. NEPAD has set an ambitious goalof raising agricultural production by 6%annually as a necessary step toward halv-ing poverty by 2015—the first UN Millen-nium Development Goal.

Achieving this and a prosperous andpeaceful Africa is not only in our inter-est—it is also our responsibility.

—Marjatta Eilittä, IFDC Senior Agronomist,Achieving an African Green Revolution

The Summit was held in Abuja’s modernInternational Conference Centre.

Average Cereal Yields in Sub-Saharan Africa andDeveloping Countries of Asia

Figure 2. Cereal yields in sub-Saharan Africa have stagnated for 40 years, whileyields in Asia have tripled.

Figure 3. Asia’s production increases were mostly through higher yields. Africa’sincreases have been by bringing more land into production.

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Source: Derived from FAO data.

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Soil Nutrient MiningTraditionally, African farmers havepracticed “slash-and-burn” farming.Farmers cleared new land, planted andharvested crops for about 3 years, thenleft the land fallow and moved on toclear more land. About 10 years later,farmers returned to clear and farm thefallow land again. By then, the basicsoil fertility had been restored. Thesystem was low-yielding but fairlysustainable…30 or 40 years ago, whenAfrica had fewer people.

But population pressure now forcesfarmers to grow crop after crop on thesame land. The soils are being

“mined”—nutrients are removed as low-yielding crops, with almost no nutrientsreturned. Little organic matter is returned tothe soil; farm families use maize and cottonstalks, and rice stems, as fuel or fodder.

“What happens if you continuously removenutrients from the soil?” Amit Roy said. “It’s

the same as if you continuously takemoney out of your checking accountwithout putting money back in. Ulti-mately, you’ll have no money. The samething is happening in the soils of sub-Saharan Africa, where the farmerscontinuously mine the soil withoutreplenishing with external inputs.”

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Agricultural leaders from across Africa and worldwidemet in Abuja, Nigeria’s new and modern capital, forthe Africa Fertilizer Summit.

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The precipitous declinein Africa’s soil healthfrom 1980 to 2004 wasdocumented in the IFDCtechnical report Agricul-tural Production and SoilNutrient Mining in Africa,by Dr. Julio Henao, IFDCBiometrician, andDr. Carlos Baanante,IFDC Economist. Thereport was a key back-ground paper for Summitparticipants.

The new researchshows a substantialdecline in soil healthacross sub-Saharan Africa,with the highest rates ofnutrient depletion—morethan 60 kg/ha yearly—inGuinea, Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Burundi,and Uganda. Those countries comprise 40%of the region’s farmland (Figure 4).

About 33% of sub-Saharan Africa’s popu-lation is undernourished, and most of theundernourished live in East Africa, wherenutrient mining rates are high.

“The evidence leaves no doubt that thevery resources on which African farmers andtheir families depend for welfare and survivalare being undermined by soil degradationcaused by nutrient mining and associatedfactors such as deforestation, use of marginallands, and poor agricultural practices,” Henaoand Baanante wrote.

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Figure 4. About 75% of the farmland in sub-Saharan Africa is severely degraded by soil nutrient mining.Africa loses $4 billion worth of soil nutrients every year.

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Food Imports Soaring

Africa now imports about 19 million tons ofcereal grains per year, at a cost of $3.5 billion,Henao points out. If soil erosion and nutrientloss continue at the current rate, crop yields inAfrica will decline by as much as 30% by2020. This will lower total cereal, root andtuber, and legume production by about 26 mil-lion tons yearly. Meanwhile, Africa’s popula-tion is projected to increase from today’s750 million to 1.1 billion people. Imports willbe 34 million tons, costing $8.4 billion…in aregion where half the population today lives,somehow, on about 65 cents a day.

One kilogram of nitrogen fertilizer will notonly help replenish Africa’s depleted soils, itwill produce 10 to 15 kg of grain. About3.5 million tons of fertilizer, at a cost of $1billion, would produce that 34 million tons,and save $7.5 billion.

NEPAD CEO Concerned AboutInfrastructure

Professor Firmino Mucavele, CEO ofNEPAD, said that agriculture accounts for60% of Africa’s labor force, but 28% of

Africa’s population is chronicallyundernourished. He called forimprovement of ruralinfrastructure.

“Because roads are few andpoor, transport costs account for atleast 30% to 40% of the farmgatefertilizer price in Africa,”Mucavele said. A ton of fertilizerthat costs $150 in the UnitedStates can cost as much as $600 inlandlocked African countries.

Even Modest Fertilizer UseIncreases Farm Yields Dramatically

Using fertilizer, improved seed, and other practices,1,000 farmers in Sauri, Kenya, more than tripled theirlast maize harvest, reported Dr. Pedro Sanchez, Direc-tor of Tropical Agriculture at the Earth Institute atColumbia University, U.S.A. Sanchez presented evi-dence on farm productivity in “millennium villages” inKenya, Ethiopia, and Malawi. The villages, which arepart of the United Nations Millennium Project, com-bine community participation and the best of scienceto end poverty and hunger.

In Sauri, the average yield rose from 1.5 tons/ha to4.9 tons, and farmers returned 10% of their surplus toschool feeding programs. Grain production of maize,teff, sorghum, and barley increased nine times inKoraro, Ethiopia. As yields increase, farmers diversifyto new crops, Sanchez reported.

“Fertilizer is as important to combating hunger asinsecticide-treated mosquito bed nets are in control-ling malaria,” Sanchez said. “Beginning with gettingthese basic tools of agriculture into farmers’ hands,we are working on the transformation of subsistencefarmers into small-scale entrepreneurs.”

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“Worsening the situation are weak inputand output marketing systems that reduceeconomic incentives to use fertilizer,”Mucavele said. “Thus, building rural inputmarkets to give farmers access to affordablefertilizers is important. The environmentaldimension of fertilizer use in Africa is not oneof over use but of under use.” He called for arapid increase in fertilizer use not only “forhigher food production” but also to “improvethe health of our soils.”

Crops Don’t Grow on Air

The Rockefeller Foundation was one of theSummit’s major sponsors. Dr. Akin Adesina,Rockefeller’s Associate Director for FoodSecurity, said, “I’ve been in international workfor 20 years…and have never seen any regionof the world that is suffering as much asAfrica. Why is that? The crop varieties thatcan make the difference for rice, for maize—they are becoming available here in Africa.But none of these varieties grow on air. Allneed nutrients, they need fertilizers to grow.The average yield in Africa for maize is half aton per hectare. In Latin America, we can get10 tons/ha. American farmers get well overthat. The reason is: African soils are dead. Justplain dead.”

Mineral fertilizers are essential to restoresoil fertility, Adesina said, but also needed areimprovements in:

• Access: Measures are needed to improve thequantity and quality of agri-inputs availableto the rural poor via the private sector.

• Affordability: The cost of agri-inputs mustbe lowered, so the rural poor can affordthem.

• Incentives: Output markets must be im-proved to give farmers incentives to investin inputs to restore soil health and raiseproduction.

New DVD: An AfricanGreen Revolution

An African Green Revolution, a new IFDC DVD, wasreleased at the Africa Fertilizer Summit.

The 12-minute video addresses the same problems andpotentials as the Summit: soil nutrient mining in sub-Saharan Africa; the need for both mineral and organicfertilizers to restore soil health; how the Green Revolu-tion, which brought food self-sufficiency to Asia, by-passed Africa; the potential for an African Green Revolu-tion; problems of getting affordable fertilizers to Africanfarmers; and the potential for domestic fertilizerproduction.

The video includes UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’shistoric call for “a uniquely African Green Revolution.”Also featured are Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo,Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, African farmers, andscientists concerned with soil fertility in Africa.

The video can be ordered, at reproduction and postagecost, at www.africafertilizersummit.org or www.ifdc.org.

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Former President Jimmy Carteron Fertilizer and the Environment

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carteraddressed both Summit participants andheads of state, via a pre-recorded video.

“Nutrient-depleted soils are the greatestlimitation to African agriculture,” Cartersaid. “But efforts to improve soil healthhave been hampered by insufficient localcapacity to produce fertilizer and theresources to import it.

“We now have the improved seeds tocatalyze an African Green Revolution. Butthose seeds must have nutrients to pro-duce the grain that Africa so desperatelyneeds.”

“Some worry about environmentalconsequences of fertilizer use in Africa,”Carter continued. “But with sound man-

agement practices, the hungry soils of Africawill make almost all nutrients available tocrops. In fact, the alarming mining of soilnutrients in Africa makes the use of mineralfertilizer environmentally friendly. Thenutrients will...increase vegetative cover andreduce soil erosion.”

Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug:“You can’t eat potential!”

Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace PrizeLaureate and former IFDC Board member,addressed the Summit at its opening.Borlaug is best known for saving millionsof people in Asia and Latin America fromhunger through the initial Green Revolu-tion. He has called improved seeds the“catalysts that ignited the Green Revolu-tion,” and mineral fertilizer the “fuel” thatpowers it.

Borlaug urged African agricultureministers, politicians, and others to find

In a field of maize in Africa are Nobel Peace PrizeLaureates Dr. Norman Borlaug (left) and former U.S.President Jimmy Carter, and Rosalynn Carter. Borlaug isPresident of the Sasakawa Africa Association, and Carterwas a founder of Sasakawa-Global 2000. Both organiza-tions are deeply committed to ending hunger in Africa.

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carterinspecting a maize harvest in Africa.

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the political will to start an African GreenRevolution by replenishing the continent’sseverely depleted soils.

The knowledge currently exists to set anAfrican Green Revolution in motion, Borlaugsaid. What’s missing is the “appropriate politi-cal will and economic policies.”

Borlaug urged African leaders to implementeconomic policies that will facilitate fertilizeruse by increasing the supply of fertilizer,strengthening markets, and making accessmore affordable.

“The potential is there—but you can’t eatpotential! You’ve got to convert it to grain andfood!” Borlaug, 92, said.

Destruction of Forests and Wildlife

Borlaug also warned that, without healthysoils, Africa’s agriculture will continue tostagnate, forcing mass migration to Africa’salready teeming cities or the clearing of newland in fragile environments…the habitat ofwild animals and plants.

About 110,000 additional hectares ofAfrica’s forests and grasslands are cleared forfarming yearly, according to the IFDC nutrientmining report.

“There will be environmental costs,”Borlaug said in a separate video address,pointing out that nothing symbolizes ourenvironment more than Africa’s wildlife andforests.

The bison has virtually disappeared fromNorth America, Borlaug said, adding, “Andthis will happen in the Serengeti Plains andother game parks in Africa, unless we learn touse the land suitable for agriculture to its fullpotential.”

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An agricultural input shop in Ghana.

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Dr. Eric Smaling of Wageningen University,Netherlands, reported that African countrieswith higher fertilizer use have more abundantwildlife, using elephants as an example.

Food Aid Should be Limited

“Food aid should be strictly limited to caseswhere it is really needed, and then it must beorganized in such a way that it neither spoilsthe market nor discourages local production,”said Dr. Jan Vlaar of the Netherlands’ Ministerfor Development Cooperation (DGIS).

“As for subsidies, care must be taken thatthey are organized in a ‘smart’ way, whichmeans using existing market channels andpartnering with the private sector, instead ofreplacing private agro-input dealer networks.”

Biggest Disaster on Earth

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a global advocate andeconomist on international poverty issues,urged participants to launch, in Africa, a GreenRevolution like that of Asia. He said, “there isa hunger crisis in Africa” that is a “disaster,perhaps the biggest on earth.” Sachs called forrapid action to get fertilizers and high-yieldingseeds to African farmers to stop the hungercrisis and halt destruction of the environment.

Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute atColumbia University, U.S.A; Director of theUN Millennium Project; and Special Advisorto UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Sachs advocated providing improved seeds,fertilizer, small-scale water management, andagricultural extension to farming households inAfrica through a variety of ways such asvouchers, “smart cards,” or local retailers.

“Better inputs will triple or quadruple yields.Over the long term, once the cash crops comealong, you can take away the subsidies,” hesaid.

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“Food aid is a completely unsustainable,‘bandaid’ approach being used as people aredying. Africa can feed itself—if the farmers getthe inputs they need. Food aid to Africa coststen times the cost of fertilizer andimproved seeds.”

Complex Problems DemandComprehensive Solutions

Peter McPherson and Rudy Rabbinge,two members of the Summit’s Emi-nent Persons Advisory Group,strongly supported an African-ledapproach to solving the continent’sfood and agricultural crisis perma-nently. McPherson is the founding co-chair of the Partnership to Cut Hun-ger and Poverty in Africa, formerAdministrator of the U.S. Agency forInternational Development (USAID),and current Chair of the IFDC Board.Rabbinge is Chairman of the UNPanel on Food Security and Agricul-tural Productivity in Africa, a memberof the Dutch Parliament, and Deputy Chair ofthe IFDC Board.

McPherson cautioned againstsimplistic solutions, such as subsi-dized fertilizer, to the African foodcrisis. “Complex problems demandcomprehensive solutions,” he said.“Africa today is more complex thanAsia was in the Sixties and Seventies. TheGreen Revolution in Asia was mainly withwheat and rice, but in Africa we have a mosaicof crops, climates, and soils.”

McPherson and Rabbinge agreed that fertil-izer subsidies played a role in the Asian GreenRevolution, but noted sharp contrasts betweenAsia of the 1960s and 1970s and Africa today,including:

–Asia had an extensive transport network thatconnected agricultural lands to markets,whereas Africa has the world’s lowest roaddensity.

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Global fertilizer production is about 147 million tons ofnutrients. But less than 200,000 tons are producedannually in sub-Saharan Africa, outside of South Africa,even though some areas have oil and gas—resources thatare needed to produce nitrogen fertilizer. Other regionshave vast deposits of phosphate rock.

“It is easier to find Coca-Cola than seed or fertilizer inan African village,” wrote Dr. Balu Bumb and IanGregory of IFDC in a Summit background paper.

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–India and Pakistan had a signifi-cant pool of scientists and engi-neers that could develop and deploynew technologies, but investmentsin education have been too few inAfrica.

–The Asian Green Revolution wastriggered mainly by improvedvarieties of rice and wheat. Africanfarmers grow a wide range ofcrops.

McPherson said that, given finitedevelopment resources, “Unlimitedfertilizer subsidies without substan-tial resources for the basics ofinfrastructure, technology, andtraining will leave Africa just one

season away from the next food crisis.”

Fertilizer Production in Africa

Ironically, little fertilizer is manufactured inAfrica, even though both the desperate needand many of the natural resources are there(Figures 5 and 6).

Source: Derived from FAO data.

Figure 5. Fertilizer production in sub-Saharan Africa peaked at about 573,000 tons in 1992/93.That was only enough fertilizer to meet a fraction of the region’s needs. But production today isonly a third that of a decade ago.

Figure 6. The need for fertilizer is desperate in sub-Saharan Africa, and many of the necessarynatural resources for local manufacture are there.

Source: Derived from FAO data.

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Global fertilizer production is about155 million tons of nutrients, according to2003/04 data from the International FertilizerIndustry Association (IFA). Only about 5.9million tons are produced in Africa; NorthAfrica accounts for about 5.1 million tons ofthat production and South Africa, 0.7 milliontons. Less than 170,000 tons of fertilizer areproduced in the remainder of sub-SaharanAfrica. That is only 2.9% of Africa’s produc-tion and 0.1% of global production.

Fertilizer production in sub-Saharan Africapeaked in 1992/93 at about 573,000 tons,wrote D. I. Gregory, IFDC Market Develop-ment Specialist, and Dr. B. L. Bumb, IFDCEconomist, in a Summit background paper on“Factors Affecting Supply of Fertilizer inSub-Saharan Africa.”

“The steady decline in production sincethen has been due to the closure of the Na-tional Fertilizer Company of Nigeria, Ltd.(NAFCON) ammonia/urea plant in Nigeria in1996 and the declining production in Tanza-nia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe,” Gregory andBumb wrote. Figure 5 illustrates the declinein production. The side bar tells of the reopen-ing of NAFCON asNotore.

Nigeria: The Only Urea Plant in Sub-SaharanAfrica Reopens as Notore (Genesis)

Notore Chemical Industries announced at the Summit that itwill reopen the only urea plant in sub-Saharan Africa, outsideof South Africa. Notore is renovating the huge, but defunct,National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria, or NAFCON, in theNiger Delta town of Onne, on Nigeria’s southern coast. Notorewill manufacture both urea, the world’s most common form ofnitrogen fertilizer, and anhydrous ammonia, another form ofnitrogen fertilizer.

“The Delta has an abundant supply of natural gas, but about60% is ‘flared,’ or burned off and wasted,” Onajite Okoloko,Notore Director, said. Natural gas, a byproduct of Nigeria’s oildrilling industry, is essential for manufacturing nitrogen fertil-izer. Onne is also near the Atlantic Ocean, which facilitates theimport of raw materials and fertilizer export to other Africanregions.

Notore began with the 2005 purchase, for $152 million, of thegovernment-owned NAFCON plant. NAFCON was one of theworld’s largest urea plants when it was built in 1988, but itclosed in 1996. Notore means “Genesis” in dialects of the NigerDelta.

In 2004, IFDC participated in a USAID/Nigeria study of howNigeria could better meet its need for nitrogen fertilizer.

“We considered three possibilities: restarting the NAFCONfacility, building a new plant, or relocating a used plant toNigeria,” said Jorge Polo, IFDC Senior Technical Specialist, whowas on the study mission. “We concluded that the most effi-cient way to re-establish urea production in Nigeria was toprivatize, rehabilitate, and restart NAFCON, and then considerbuilding new units to meet future needs.”

Notore’s acquisition of NAFCON resulted from Nigerian Presi-dent Olusegun Obasanjo’s initiative to privatize government-

owned businesses and focus on developing thenation’s agricultural sector, Okoloko said. Morethan 40% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product isfrom agriculture.

Okoloko said, “We’ll spend $100 million on theplant’s refurbishment.” The cost of building anew plant with somewhat higher capacitywould be about $600 million.

Notore has entered into a 20-year contract withthe Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation tosupply natural gas to run the new plant.

Notore is owned by a consortium of Nigerianprivate investors and both local and foreigninstitutional investors.

The Notore plant will initially produce about1,700 tons of urea per day or about 600,000tons per year, Okoloko said. Within 5 yearsNotore plans to build two more plants andproduce about 6,500 tons of urea daily, or 2.4million tons per year.

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The opening of Notore in Nigeria, the only ureaplant in sub-Saharan Africa, was announcedduring the Summit. Onajite Okoloko, NotoreDirector, was an active Summit participant.

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Africa Fertilizer Summit Sponsors

Summit sponsors included: the Federal Repub-lic of Nigeria, The Rockefeller Foundation, theAfrican Development Bank (AfDB), Agriterra,the Arab Fertilizer Association (AFA), the Com-monwealth Secretariat, the Department forInternational Development (DFID, UK), theEconomic Commission for Africa (ECA), FidelityBank (Nigeria), the Food and Agriculture Orga-nization of the United Nations (FAO), the Will-iam and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Interna-tional Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), theInternational Fund for Agricultural Develop-ment (IFAD), the Notore Chemical Industries(Nigeria), the Partnership to Cut Hunger andPoverty in Africa, Sasakawa-Global 2000, ShellCanada Limited, the United Bank for Africa PLC,the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID), and The World Bank. It was imple-mented by IFDC, an International Center forSoil Fertility and Agricultural Development, incollaboration with NEPAD.

Potential for Local Productionof Phosphate Fertilizer

Most African soils are severely deficient inphosphorus, which is essential for energymetabolism in plants.

Six African countries control about 41.5%of the world’s currently exploitable phosphaterock reserves and 50.2% of the total globalphosphate rock reserve base that may beexploitable in the future (Figure 6), reportedSteven J. Van Kauwenbergh, IFDC SeniorGeologist, in Fertilizer Raw Material Re-sources of Africa. A draft of the new book wasdistributed at the Summit as backgroundmaterial.

Ironically, millions of tons of phosphaterock are shipped abroad to be further processedinto phosphate fertilizer.

“Development of indigenous fertilizer rawmaterial resources and local or regional fertil-izer production facilities are alternatives tosupply the nutrients that African farmers musthave to feed growing populations,” VanKauwenbergh wrote.

But investors must decide if it’s moreeconomical to manufacture fertilizer locally, orto import it.

“It would be too expensive for some coun-tries to produce their own fertilizer,” saidDr. Kofi Debrah, IFDC Chief of Party forMarket Information Systems and Traders’Organizations in West Africa (MISTOWA).The MISTOWA program puts new informationtools, along with training in their use, into thehands of farmers and traders.

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“We’re trying to get governments to revise policies on imports, because if we import cerealsinto a country and sell it cheaper than production from domestic resources, farmers will not havethe incentive to produce more…and will not be willing to invest in the fertility of the soil,” saidDebrah.

The Challenge Ahead

“Our challenge now is to work together to maintain the momentum set at Abuja, and revital-ize African agriculture,” Dr. Amit Roy said after the Summit.

To help reach that goal, IFDC will publish a Summit proceedings in both print andelectronic form. IFDC has posted key Summit background papers and PowerPointpresentations, as PDF documents, on the Summit website (www.africafertilizersummit.org).

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Work was long, intense, and hectic. Eating a sandwich with onehand—while typing with the other—is Manon Dohmen, Economist/Association Specialist, IFDC Africa Division, IFDC/Togo. On the far

left is Jeff Haskins of Burness Communications, U.S.A. On the right isAndre Oliver, Rockefeller Foundation.

Preparing for the Summit are (left to right)Evelyn Okwudolor, Secretary, Africa Fertilizer

Summit; Dan Waterman, IFDC Director ofTraining and Workshop Coordination; Dr. Amit

Roy, IFDC President; and Manon Dohmen.

Preparing conferencebags is Richard Kachikwu of

IFDC/Nigeria.

Participants were entertainedwith traditional African

danccs at Gala Night.

Some of the Summit organizerseven carried laptop

computers to dinner.

Behind the Scenes

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Working into the night, preparingfor the Summit opening.

…and further into the night,collating papers for distribution.

Running the IFDC exhibit is Regine (“Gigi”)Dupuy, Communication Officer for

MISTOWA, based in Ghana.Overview of IFDC booth.

at the Summit

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Africa Fertilizer SummitAfrican Union Special Summit

of the Heads of State and Government

Abuja, Nigeria, 13 June 2006

Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer for an African Green Revolution

T he New Partnership for Africa’s Development has declared that the vision of economicdevelopment in Africa must be based on raising and sustaining higher rates of economic growth(7 percent per year). To realize this vision, the African Heads of State and Government adopted

the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme, which calls for a 6% annual growth inagricultural production, as a framework for the restoration of agricultural growth, food security and ruraldevelopment in Africa.

Africa’s farmers face a variety of constraints including low productivity, limited access to new agriculturaltechnologies and weak markets. Without adequate inputs, farmers often cannot meet the food needs oftheir own families, much less those of a rapidly growing population. To feed themselves and theircountries, farmers will need to shift from low-yielding, extensive land practices to more intensive, higher-yielding practices, with increased use of improved seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.

A move toward reducing hunger on the continent must begin by addressing its severely depleted soils.Due to decades of soil nutrient mining, Africa’s soils have become the poorest in the world. It isestimated that the continent loses the equivalent of over $4 billion worth of soil nutrients per year,severely eroding its ability to feed itself. Yet farmers have neither access to nor can they afford thefertilizers needed to add life to their soils. And no region of the world has been able to expandagricultural growth rates, and thus tackle hunger, without increasing fertilizer use.

In Africa, use of fertilizer averages only eight kilograms per hectare. In short, Africa is trapped in afertilizer crisis; this is only 10% of the world average. Addressing Africa’s fertilizer crisis thereforerequires urgent and bold actions. Africa is ready for the Green Revolution. Today, African leaders haveconvened to show their strong and unanimous commitment to achieving the African Green Revolution bytaking immediate actions to solve Africa’s fertilizer crisis.

The African Union Ministers of Agriculture convened in Abuja on 12 June 2006 for the Africa FertilizerSummit:

Recognizing that Africa needs a Green Revolution which is long overdue and yet constitutes the way ofgetting African farmers out of the poverty trap by achieving food security and other relevant theMillennium Development Goals;

Recognizing that fertilizer is crucial for achieving an African Green Revolution in the face of rapidlyrising population and declining soil fertility;

Realizing that most farmers in Africa are poor, have virtually no access to fertilizer and that the poorestof them urgently need special attention;

Recognizing the urgent need for a strategic investment program to increase the availability and use offertilizer alongside with other inputs to usher in the Green Revolution on the African continent;

Declare fertilizer, from both inorganic and organic sources, a strategic commodity without borders; and

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Resolve that the African Union Member States will accelerate the timely access of farmers to fertilizers:1. Given the strategic importance of fertilizer in achieving the African Green Revolution to end hunger,the African Union Member States resolve to increase the level of use of fertilizer from the currentaverage of 8 kilograms per hectare to an average of at least 50 kilograms per hectare by 2015.2. By mid-2007, the African Union Member States and the Regional Economic Communities shouldtake appropriate measures to reduce the cost of fertilizer procurement at national and regional levelsespecially through the harmonization of policies and regulations to ensure duty- and tax-free movementacross regions, and the development of capacity for quality control. As an immediate measure, werecommend the elimination of taxes and tariffs on fertilizer and on fertilizer raw materials.3. By mid-2007, the African Governments must take concrete measures to improve farmers’ access tofertilizers, by developing and scaling up input dealers’ and community-based networks across rural areas.The Private Sector and Development Partners are hereby requested to support such actions.4. By 2007, the African Union Member States must take concrete measures to specially address thefertilizer needs of farmers, especially women, and to develop and strengthen the capacity of youth,farmers’ associations, civil society organizations, and the private sector.5. With immediate effect, the African Union Member States must improve farmers’ access to fertilizer, bygranting, with the support of Africa’s Development Partners, targeted subsidies in favor of the fertilizersector, with special attention to poor farmers.6. The African Union Member States should take immediate steps to accelerate investment ininfrastructure, particularly transport, fiscal incentives, strengthening farmers’ organizations, and othermeasures to improve output market incentives.7. The African Union Member States should establish national financing facilities for input suppliers toaccelerate access to credit at the local and national levels, with specific attention to women.8. The African Union Member States, hereby request the establishment of Regional FertilizerProcurement and Distribution Facilities with the support of the African Development Bank, the EconomicCommission for Africa, the Regional Economic Communities, and the Regional Development Banks,through strategic public-private partnerships by the end of 2007.9. Given the extensive fertilizer raw material resources in Africa and the fact that they are underutilized inmany parts of the continent, the African Union Member States undertake to promote national/regionalfertilizer production and intra-regional fertilizer trade to capture a bigger market and take advantage ofeconomies of scale through appropriate measures such as tax incentives and infrastructure development.This should be supported by the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa, theRegional Development Banks, the Regional Economic Communities, other Development Partners, andthe Private Sector.10. The African Union Member States should take specific action to improve farmer access to qualityseeds, irrigation facilities, extension services, market information, and soil nutrient testing and mappingto facilitate effective and efficient use of inorganic and organic fertilizers, while paying attention to theenvironment.11. The African Development Bank, with the support of the Economic Commission for Africa and theAfrican Union Commission, is called to establish, by 2007, an Africa Fertilizer Development FinancingMechanism that will meet the financing requirements of the various actions agreed upon by the Summit.We, the African Union Member States, undertake to support the establishment of this facility and willpledge resources for its immediate operation.12. The African Union Member States request the African Union Commission and the New Partnership forAfrica’s Development to set up a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the implementation of this resolution.This should be done in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa and the African DevelopmentBank. The African Union Commission should give progress report to the African Heads of State at everysixth-monthly African Union Summit, starting in January 2007.

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Project Highlightsof 2005/06

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Soil Nutrient Mining in Africa:Implications for Resource Conservation

and Policy Development

Poverty is forcing farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to“mine” plant nutrients from their soils. About95 million of Africa’s 220 million ha of farmlandare losing at least 30 kg of nutrients per hectareyearly—food for the plants that is not replaced.

Farmers have traditionally cleared land, growna few crops, and then moved on to clear moreland, leaving the land fallow to regain its fertility.But a 3% annual growth in population now forcesfarmers to grow crop after crop on the same land,mining the soil while giving no nutrients back, andto bring marginal land into production.

Contributing to soil mining are poor inherentsoil fertility and low use of inputs such as im-proved seeds and mineral fertilizers,” saysDr. Julio Henao, IFDC Senior Scientist, Biomet-rics. Mineral fertilizer use in Africa is less than10 kg of NPK per hectare yearly.

“Nutrient depletion rates are greater than 60 kgof nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, or NPK,per hectare on about 45% of Africa’s farmland,and more than 70 kg on about 18%,” Henao says.

Henao explains nutrient requirements: “Toproduce 1 ton of wheat on 1 ha, the plants needfrom 15 to 20 kg of N, 3 to 5 kg of P, 4 to 6 kg ofK, and less than 1 kg of other minerals. Thus, toproduce a ton of wheat, the soil should makeavailable at least 20 to 30 kg of NPK per hectare.

“Nutrient depletion is highest in the sub-humidand humid areas of Central and East Africa. Wehave found sites with nutrient depletion rates ofmore than 100 kg of NPK in Rwanda, Burundi,Somalia, Malawi, and Angola.” Nutrient mining

Farmers and soil fertility management

has particularly increased in cereals such as riceand maize, and in tuber crops such as potatoes,cassava, and yams.

Soils in these areas are shallow and highlyweathered, and cultivation of food crops is inten-sive. Only 0 to 6 kg of NPK per hectare is appliedyearly.

Rates of nutrient mining have decreased by 5%to 10% from those observed during 1993–95 insome key cereal crops such as maize, millet,sorghum, and rice in West African countries suchas Burkina Faso, Senegal, Benin, Ghana, and thesemiarid areas of Mali.

Most depletion of N and P is through soilerosion by wind and water. N and some K are alsolost through leaching.

“All soils sooner or later become exhausted ifnutrients that are removed or lost are not re-placed,” Henao says.

“If erosion continues unabated, African cropproduction will decrease by 17% to 30% by 2020,”Henao says. “Cereal production would decrease byabout 10 million tons, roots and tubers by 15 mil-lion tons, and pulses, 1 million tons.”

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa)imported almost 20 million tons of cereals, at acost of $4.4 billion, in 1994, according to FAO. By2020 the region is projected to buy more than34 million tons yearly, paying $8.5 billion.

“That’s a staggering sum for the poorest regionon earth, where almost half the population—300million of 750 million people—survives, some-how, on about 65 cents a day,” Henao says.

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The number of malnourished Africans hasgrown from about 88 million in 1970 to more than200 million during 1999–2001. If the current trendcontinues, 340 million people will live in abjectpoverty by 2015.

Africa’s minimal production increases havebeen achieved by bringing less fertile soils onmarginal land into production.

“That’s another threat to Africa’s endangeredwildlife,” Henao says.

“Soil nutrient mining is also disrupting thesocial order—it forces the youth toflock to the congested cities.”

Nutrient depletion is low—from 0kg to 30 kg of NPK per hectare—inmost North African countries, andparts of South Africa.

Agriculture in the coastal areas ofLibya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria ischaracterized by high use of mineralfertilizers and appropriate crop man-agement. Cereal productivity in Egypt,for example, is among the world’shighest.

Soil depletion data that IFDCgathers are used to identify policiesand investment strategies to restoresoil fertility and increase land productivity.

Long-term management practices to restoresoil fertility include cultivation practices thatcontrol soil erosion, recycling of crop residues andfarmyard manure, and improved livestock man-agement. Policy strategies include making bothorganic and mineral fertilizers more readily avail-able, and at a lower cost.

Tools for nutrient monitoring include geo-graphic information systems (GIS), simulationmodels, and weather forecasting.

IFDC in Africa: LinkingFarmers and Markets

Technologies have been developed that can in-crease productivity dramatically—but farmershaven’t adopted them widely because they haven’thad access to inputs such as improved seeds,fertilizer, and crop protection products (CPPs).

“That’s why the emphasis of IFDC work inAfrica has shifted from primarily productionresearch to a stronger focus on the development ofinput markets,” says Robert Groot, Director,Africa Division.

“Traditionally, input dealers have sold theirproducts like they were selling fish or cannedtomatoes—and often, they were selling fish andtomatoes in the same shop,” Groot says. “Thefarmer’s choice of fertilizer was simple: ‘black’fertilizer, which is mostly NPK or ammoniumphosphate, or ‘white’ fertilizer, which is urea.Purchasing inputs was a gamble, because neitherthe dealer nor the farmer knew much about theproduct, or its quality.”

Robert Groot of the IFDC Africa Division ina field in Togo.

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The Ghana Agricultural Input Dealers’Association and a Ghanaian Dealer

Within months after graduating, the 85 deal-ers trained through GAIMS in 2004 hadformed the Ghana Agricultural Input Deal-ers’ Association (GAIDA). Graduates from2004 soon joined, and GAIDA now numbers

600. GAIDA is now pushing for legis-lation to ensure quality control and“truth-in-labeling” for agriculturalinputs.

“I learned to keep proper recordsthrough the training,” saysDoris Delali Doe, co-owner of AgricShop, an input shop in the teemingNew Plantation area of Accra. “I alsolearned more about the chemicalsthemselves. Passing that informationon to farmers helps my business.”When asked about current needs,Doe replied, “More credit, with betterterms.”

Doris Delali Doe, an agri-input dealer in Accra, Ghana,proudly shows a farmer her certificate of completion of theGAIMS program.

Ghana has about 1,000 dealers. About half are“stationary,” working from stores and shops. Theothers are mobile, traveling by motorbike orbicycle, peddling small quantities of inputs inremote villages.

IFDC has trained almost all of the stationarydealers in Ghana in 4- to 5-day courses that coverproduct knowledge (knowing what they sell),product safety, shop management and bookkeep-ing, and some basic crop management so they canadvise farmers on how to use their productsproperly.

Input Dealer Training in Ghana

About 85 agricultural input dealers from theprivate sector were trained in 2003 through theGhana Agricultural Input Market Strengthening(GAIMS) program, funded by USAID.

Another 400 dealers and extension agents weretrained in 2004.

Upon completion of training, dealers receive adiploma and both a T-shirt and a certificate stating,“We sell quality products” to display in theirshops.

“This is the dealer’s pledge to farmers thatthey will be ethical,” Groot says.

“The training resulted in the establishment of390 new input dealerships in rural areas andincreased service to 1,260 subdealers,” Groot says.“That gave better access to inputs, and lowertransaction costs, for at least 260,000 farmers.”

Dealers also opened 1,260 satellite shops inremote areas.

Fertilizer imports almost doubled, from 31,000tons in 2002 to 61,000 tons in 2004. The traineddealers increased sales of agricultural inputs by84%.

In 2004, farmers served by the trained dealersincreased input purchases for maize by 11%, and

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maize production by 176%, according to a surveyby Ghana’s Ministry of Agriculture. Input pur-chases for rice rose by 15%, with a productionincrease of 155%; and increased inputs for cow-peas rose 26%, with a 69% increased output.

Almost 90% of the farmers interviewed saidthey now have better access to inputs.

“The budget for the GAIMS program was only$885,000,” Groot says. “But look at the payoff!”

“Perhaps the most important payoff of thetraining was to build confidence and trust betweenthe dealers and the farmers,” Groot says. “Afterthe training, the dealers knew what they wereselling, and could advise farmers in its use.”

Legislation and StandardizationAre Needed

Another problem of the input markets in Africa isthe absence of legislation. In some countries, thereis no legislation at all.

“A dealer in some countries can sell a bag ofsand as fertilizer,” Groot says. “We are assistinggovernments of Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and BurkinaFaso to develop regional laws on fertilizer use. Forexample, urea must be 46% nitrogen—but it’soften diluted. The farmer should get the quality hepays for. The nutrient content should be labeled oneach bag of fertilizer. The same is true for seedsand crop protection products.”

A lack of standardized terminologies, measure-ments, and language also hampers regional trade.

When seeds of a maize variety are sold bydifferent names in different countries, for example,dealers don’t know what they’re selling, accordingto Groot.

IFDC is helping develop regional seed legisla-tion, including a seed catalog to standardize namesof varieties across West Africa.

Having contents and instructions only inEnglish or French further complicates inter-

regional trade. Product descriptions should be inboth languages.

Farmer Linkages to Markets

“Unless markets are available, farmers have noincentive to increase productivity,” Groot says.“No farmer will invest in better seeds or fertilizerif there’s a risk he can’t sell his/her product.”

Over the past 6 years, IFDC has worked withmore than 100,000 farmers to link with markets in16 “pilot” villages in 7 West African countries.Average crop yields have doubled, and familyincomes have increased 30% to 50% in thosevillages.

“That proves that improved technology canwork, when both inputs and markets are avail-able,” Groot says.

The markets are often there, but farmers haveproblems accessing them.

“We’re helping link maize farmers in southernTogo to the city markets of Lomé,” Groot says.

“We’re also helping farmers around Lomégrow basil to sell to a French spice company thatsupplies the U.S. and European markets,” Grootsays. “That’s linking small African farmers to aglobal market. Accelerating agricultural develop-ment involves more than just helping farmers,”Groot says. “It requires a consistent approach thattargets the entire agricultural sector. That meansimprovement of farmers’ technical skills, andaccess to improved seeds, credit, fertilizer, andother agricultural inputs. Policies and laws shouldencourage trade. Last, trade will really take offonly if market information is available throughoutthe agricultural sector. IFDC works in each ofthese areas.”

“A farmer in northern Ghana can grow and sella limited amount of maize or sorghum in the localmarkets—but he’ll have a hard time linking toGuinness!” Groot explains.

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Soil and NutrientDynamics Program

The Soil and Nutrient DynamicsProgram (SNDP) develops and pro-motes technologies, information,decision support tools, and manage-ment practices that improve the effi-ciencies of cropping systems and soiland water resources.

“Such innovations must be profit-able, improve farmers’ lives, and besustainable, both ecologically andeconomically,” says Dr. Thomas W.Crawford, Jr., Director, IFDC Researchand Market Development Division.“We focus on technologies that en-hance the efficiency and profitability ofcrop nutrient use and nutrient recycling,and that improve soil fertility. SNDPalso supports market development andpolicy activities associated with fertil-izer efficiency. SNDP scientists also doresearch with innovative fertilizers todetermine the agronomic effectivenessof these new materials.”

SNDP research previously focusedon eight core activities, Crawford says,but now refocuses on five keyactivities.

Activity 1. Improving Efficiency ofWater and Plant Nutrient Management

“The integrated management ofmineral and organic fertilizers andwater has helped save millions ofhectares of marginal lands and wildlifereserves by making their cultivationunnecessary,” says Dr. Upendra Singh,Senior Scientist, Systems Modeling(Soil Fertility).

SNDP seeks to improve the effi-ciency of nutrient and water use, and of

Improving the FertilizerLink in the AgricultureValue Chain

The harvests of AmesGounhossou, a maizefarmer in Togo, increasedby eight times when shebegan mixing NPK, urea,and organic matter after acover crop of mucuna.Gounhossou was previ-ously unable to save herproduce, but her farmer group now maintains a stor-age facility that holds 10 tons of grain. Stored grainserves as collateral for microcredit, because a bag ofmaize that brings $7.50 at harvest can be sold later forabout $26.

“There are problems in moving from subsistencefarming to commercial farming with higher productionand added value,” says Robert Groot, Director ofIFDC’s Africa Division. Inputs like fertilizer are expen-sive and often not available at the right moment, whilefarm product prices at harvest are often low.IFDC has learned that combining the following fiveinterlinked elements in a market-oriented program canimprove farmers’ livelihoods:• Demonstrate that fertilizer use is profitable.• Develop the ability of fertilizer dealers to increase

business and services.• Strengthen commodity chains through linking

farmers to input and product markets, thus addingvalue to agricultural products.

• Improve access to market information.• Strengthen national and regional policies to encour-

age trade and investment.

IFDC has obtained funding from a variety of donors,including IFA, to promote integrated soil fertilitymanagement (ISFM) to improve both the efficiencyand profitability of fertilizer use. As a result of pilotefforts in 16 regions of West Africa, more than 100,000farm families in 2005 were using ISFM techniques thatenhance soil fertility, fertilizer use efficiency, produc-tivity, and income. The Dutch government recentlyagreed to provide funding to scale up to reach amillion farm families, numbering about 10 millionpeople.

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cropping systems, through innovative modifica-tions of fertilizer products and testing of efficientplant types. Examples of this are slow- andcontrolled-release fertilizers, integration of inor-ganic and organic sources of essential plant nutri-ents, and plant types with improved uptake effi-ciencies for use and uptake of water and otheressential plant nutrients.

“Development is strongly emphasized,” Singhsays. “Technologies developed in laboratories andgreenhouses go to the field to remove bottlenecksand for further development, like the manufactureof urea supergranules and NPK briquettes at thevillage level to promote deep placement technol-ogy where it is needed.”

Activity 2. Understanding the Behavior and Rolesof Mineral Nutrients in Food Chains, Nutrition,and Health

Technologies that affect nutritional quality,especially in cereals such as rice, wheat, maize,and sorghum, have huge impacts on the liveli-hoods and health of farmers and consumers.Nutrient deficiencies are becoming more commonwith higher yields, intensified cropping, lowfertilizer use, and imbalanced fertilization.

“Micronutrient intake has not kept pace withincreased food production in much of the world,”Singh says. “Consumption of micronutrients isinadequate for more than a third of the earth’speople. Micronutrient deficiencies, particularly ofzinc and iron, impair growth, intellectual develop-ment, physical activity, and survival, especiallyamong women and children in developingcountries.”

The SNDP research focus is to enrich micronu-trients in staple crops that feed the developingworld. The research is in partnership with CGIARcenters and private institutions that develop cropswith high nutrient densities. One example isadding to the nutritional benefits attained fromplant breeding advances in high grain nutrientcontent with efficient fertilizer management (types

of fertilizer, timing, and placement). Such effortswill ensure long-term sustainability both in termsof human nutrition and soil fertility improvement.

Other research focuses on cropping systemsthat include alternative crops with high nutrientvalue. An example of this is adding mineral- andvitamin-rich vegetables and legumes to the exist-ing cropping systems to ensure nutritional food,diversity, and to avoid the buildup of pests anddiseases.

Activity 3. Understanding Environmental Aspectsof Plant Nutrient Management and DevelopingManagement Techniques to Conserve Soils and toRemediate Degraded or Contaminated Soils andWater

“Low levels of fertilizer use, particularly insub-Saharan Africa, contribute to soil degradationand the cropping of marginal lands,” Singh says.Both marginal and fertile agro-ecosystems arebeing degraded through nutrient depletion, soilacidification, soil and wind erosion, soil compac-tion and degradation, disappearance of perennialgrasses and crops, deforestation, loss ofbiodiversity, reduction of soil water retention, anddeclining water sources. Combating soil nutrientdepletion is essential to achieve sustainable in-creases in crop production.

Agriculture also causes emission of greatvolumes of gaseous materials into the atmosphere.Some of the gases—especially carbon dioxide,nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocar-bons—absorb the earth’s radiation and contributeto global warming. Global climate change, includ-ing higher temperatures and increased carbondioxide levels, tends to result in increased agricul-tural production at higher latitudes and lowerproduction in the tropics. The high variability inrainfall, both in quantity and distribution, andhigher temperatures, may have a negative impacton the nutrient cycle in the tropics through in-creased leaching and denitrification, poor effi-ciency of fertilizer use, and more pests anddiseases.

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Figure 1. Information Flow and Linkages with Various AgriculturalSectors for Research and Development Using DSS.

Agriculture is negatively affected by both theunderutilization and overuse of water and nutri-ents. Integrated and balanced fertilization willresult in a win-win situation with intensive andsustainable agriculture that feeds the world with-out harming the environment. The research focusis on integrated nutrient management, fertilizerproducts and amendments, indigenous resources,crop species, and cropping systems that remediateor improve infertile and contaminated soils.Research on contaminated soils and water focuseson agronomic practices to minimize heavy metalcontamination of the food chain, control nitratepollution in ground water, and limit eutrophicationfrom surface runoff of P by modifying manage-ment practices and products (e.g., deep placementof urea-diammonium phosphate [DAP]briquettes).

Activity 4. Development and Application ofDecision Support Systems to Manage AgriculturalDevelopment

Decision-making for agricultural production isbecoming more complex because of increased

competition caused by globalization and the needto adopt more sustainable management practices.Policymakers, managers, and producers need user-friendly and effective tools to most effectivelyassess the biophysical and socioeconomic appro-priateness and viability of management interven-tions on agricultural production, soil fertility, andenvironmental changes. Activities under DecisionSupport Systems (DSS) include the development,testing, and implementation of methodologies andtools to support decisions in managing agriculturalproduction based on biophysical and socioeco-nomic data. DSS applications are targeted toreduce soil nutrient depletion, improve soil andwater use efficiency, and quantify and reduce risks.The DSS component has linkages with otherSNDP activities as well as with the FertilizerMaterials and Policy, Trade and Markets pro-grams, and the Africa Division (Figure 1).

DSS research focuses on the development ofbest management practices that are site-specificand dynamic. “Fertilizer recommendations devel-oped 50 years ago are still being used in manycountries, despite changes in varieties and soil

Customer

Recommendations

Prediction/Diagnosis

Decision Aids

Existing Knowledge Base

Natural Resource

Inventory

Databases

Prices, Market Trends

Distribution, Consumption

Production, Import, Export

Inputs Outputs

Fertilizers

Pesticides

Seeds

Food crop

Cash Crop

Enabling

Research

Prediction

Research

Understanding

Research

� Soil

� Climate

� Crop

� Inputs

� Output

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fertility,” Singh points out. The potential of im-proved varieties and genetically modified cropscannot be realized unless recommendations arerevised continually. An important future DSSactivity is to evaluate potential changes in re-sponse to global climate change and seasonalweather fluctuations such as through El Niño. Theincreased linkages between market informationsystems (MIS) and DSS (Figure 1) will helpnational economies by predicting the impacts ofchanging agricultural production. For example, theflexibility and gains associated with switchingfrom one crop to another can be shown for differ-ent regions of a country.

Activity 5. Understanding and Predicting GlobalAspects of Plant Nutrients and Fertilizers

The use of essential plant nutrients as fertiliz-ers is derived from the demand for food commodi-ties. Changes in crop production also affect theglobal flow of plant nutrients. Research is beingconducted by IFDC to analyze nutrient balance atlocal, regional, and international levels. Theinfluence of soil nutrient trends at the local level isevaluated in terms of global trade and virtual flowof plant nutrients (nutrients moving with food,feed, fiber, and fuel sources). This research aims todemonstrate the effects of key factors and policieson the virtual global flow of nutrients; the produc-tion, demand, trade, and use of fertilizers; nutrientrecycling; and the environment. Through modelingit will be possible to understand relationshipsamong nutrient use, the productivity and conserva-tion of land and water, and the energy sector.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management

Smallholder Farmers on Marginal LandContribute to Fertilizer Access

Nutrient depletion threatens the sustainabilityof land use in most of Africa. Limited access tocredit and high fertilizer costs with low efficiencyof use are worsening the problem. The cumulativeeffect is an unfavorable cost:benefit ratio forfertilizer use.

“Integrated soil fertility management, or ISFM,is a tool to improve the efficiency—and thus, theprofitability—of fertilizer use for smallholderfarmers,” says Dr. Henk Breman, IFDC ResidentRepresentative and Principal Scientist based inBelgium. “Lower nutrient losses are an addedbenefit. That decreases environmental risks.”

“ISFM differs from approaches that use locallyavailable soil amendments to limit the use ofinorganic fertilizers,” Breman explains.

ISFM involves the integrated use of inorganicfertilizer and soil amendments such as organicmatter, lime, and phosphate rock. Such soilamendments interact with mineral fertilizers toimprove the soil quality, including organic matterstatus, pH, and available P.

“ISFM, as developed and promoted by IFDC,also differs from simple technology transfer,”Breman says. “It’s a participatory process, whereall stakeholders play a role. The stakeholders mustensure that the right technology is promoted in theright place, with conditions that encourage andenable adoption. This means involvement of notonly farmers and farmer organizations, but alsonongovernmental organizations (NGOs), exten-sion services, input dealers, rural banks, and creditsystems. The main roles of IFDC are scientificbackstopping, organizing and facilitating stake-holder platforms, and helping strengthen stake-holder groups.”

Overpopulation at Low Population Density

“Much of Africa is overpopulated—even in areaswhere population density is relatively low,”Breman says. There are too many farmers, andthus too much pressure on already-depleted soil, tosustain subsistence farming. “The use of organicfertilizers, with limited or no mineral fertilizers,maintains at best, the status quo of soil quality,”Breman explains. “The farmer’s economic benefitfrom low investments in inorganic fertilizer iscounter-balanced by low competitiveness of itsuse. Also, African farmers do not have the

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economic benefit of large-scale import or produc-tion of fertilizers.”

Poor Soils Worse Than Drought in the Sahel

Surprisingly, soil nutrient deficiencies limit cropand animal production even more than drought inthe arid Sahel, scientists from the Netherlandsfound through research in Mali in the 1970s.Fertilizers could alleviate the soil nutrient prob-lem, but their economic use was limited to a fewhigh-value crops such as cotton and sugar canegrown under favorable conditions. Nevertheless,the efficiency and economics of fertilizer useimproved when integrated with indigenous pro-duction systems, giving smallholders on marginalland a comparative advantage. Meanwhile, IFDCconfirmed those findings in dry Niger, showingthat crops use rainwater more efficiently when soilfertility is improved through fertilizer use.

IFDC then used results of the Mali research todevelop practical systems for smallholder Africanfarmers. A range of ISFM options was developed,with specific but often overlapping recommenda-tion domains. The development, testing, andintroduction of technologies was in close partner-ship with farmers, NGOs, extension services, andthe Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute(TSBF) of the International Center for TropicalAgriculture (CIAT), with financial support fromIFAD, IFA, USAID, and DGIS.

From 2000 to 2003, IFDC and partners workedwith 3,000 farmers in 7 countries, and reachedmany more through demonstrations, field days,and farmer-to-farmer exchanges. Sources oforganic matter included straw, manure, composts,household wastes, leguminous cover crops, peren-nial grasses, and agroforestry products. Technolo-gies were developed that were effective in theWest African Sahel, through the Soudanian andGuinea savannas, to the coastal savannahs ofGhana, Togo, and Benin, and in East Africa. ISFMtechnologies were effective in diverse crops:millet, sorghum, maize, cowpeas, groundnuts,

cotton, irrigated rice, and cassava. The efficiencyof fertilizer use increased by 50% over the 4-yearperiod.

“ISFM has particularly strong effects on soilswith low organic matter, and in dry years,”Breman says. “For example, consider on-farmfertilizer use in millet production on compoundfields, directly around the farmhouse, and on bushfields in Karabedji, a Sahelian village in Nigerwhere rainfall averages 500 mm/year. The soilorganic matter status on compound fields ismaintained by applying manure and householdwastes. A typical ISFM technology is to combinethese amendments with inorganic fertilizer.”

Without fertilizer, millet yields on bush fieldsranged from 150 to 180 kg/ha. On compoundfields, yields ranged from 490 to 570 kg/ha. BothN and P appeared limiting. Using inorganic fertil-izers, N efficiencies were maximum with doses of30 kg/ha of both N and P. In the first year of thetrial, the average yield was 1,220 kg/ha for bushfields, which did not receive manure and house-hold wastes besides the inorganic fertilizers, and1,940 kg/ha for compound fields that did.

1 kg of N = 25-42 kg of millet

“Every kilogram of nitrogen produced 25 kg ofmillet grain on the outlying fields, and 42 kg onthe compound fields,” Breman says.

During the 3-year trial, rainfall decreased from640 to 470 to 370 mm/year. Despite the decreasedrainfall and the extreme dry third year, thanks toISFM, fertilizer use efficiency and yields increasedevery year. For the highest N doses (60 kg/ha) onthe compound fields, the successive yields were1.9, 2.7, and 2.9 tons/ha. The average millet yieldin Niger is only 0.4 tons/ha.

ISFM Manual

An ISFM Manual that describes ISFM and itstechnical options is being prepared.

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Farmer Education

Soil fertility varies greatly in Africa,both naturally and because of humanintervention. That makes programs toimprove nutrient availability and soilhealth difficult.

“Farmers who do not own the landthey cultivate are reluctant to investprecious savings to improve soilfertility,”says Dr. Abdoulaye Mando,Program Leader, IFDC Natural Re-sources Management Program, basedin Lomé, Togo.

“Furthermore, payoffs for invest-ments in soil health aren’t alwaysimmediate, and are sometimes hard tosee. Access to resources—not only to land, butalso to agri-inputs like fertilizers and credit—oftendiffers, even among family members.”

Women can’t inherit land from their husbandsin many societies, for example. Yet ironically,small agricultural loans are often available only towomen.

Farmer-Led Research

“An African farmer’s life is harsh—and thatmakes farmer-led research an absolute necessity,”Mando says. “We make farmers themselves theresearch leaders, so they ‘own’ the research resultsand can help train other farmers.”

The IFDC approach in Africa is to developfarmers’ analytical skills so they can explorepossibilities and solve their own problems.

IFDC trained 3,500 farmers, in 16 pilot sitesand 150 learning groups in 2004 and 2005. Farm-ers learned to:

• Diagnose their farm environments.• Identify key problems.

• Analyze those problems, along with their causesand possible solutions.

• Learn about major principles of ISFM and howto implement ISFM techniques.

• Study and test the performance of ISFMtechniques.

Thirty farmers in southern Togo initiated22 small “nutrient-omission” plots—omitting theapplication of N, P, or K, but applying the twoother major nutrients—on terre de barre, or highlyleached soil, during the main rainy seasons in2003 and 2004. Some fields were planted withmucuna, a nitrogen-fixing legume that is oftenused as a cover crop, during a fallow in the pre-ceding short rainy season; others were not.

Yields on plots grown after mucuna, butwithout added N, were 2.5 tons/ha; without P,2.4 tons/ha; and without K, 1.4 tons/ha. Thatshows that K is the element most critical for maizeyield in the infertile soils of the area. Mucuna alsohas a strong beneficial effect on the soil’s capacityto supply N and P to the plants.

“Unfortunately, potassium alone is seldomavailable in the market,” Mando says. “For a

Farmers evaluate research during the growingseason to understand the principles of ISFMtechnology.

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Tomato Producers in Northern Togo

With the support of IFDC, the Tomato Project was initiated by Research, Support, and Trainingfor the Initiatives of Self Development (RAFIA), an NGO in northern Togo. RAFIA is an activemember of Agricultural Intensification in sub-Saharan Africa (AISSA) and began the project withthe specific aim of encouraging young farmers to stay in the northern region after the agricul-tural season. The idea behind the project was quite simple and was based on the relativelyabundant availability of lowlands in this region and the recognition that most of the tomatoesconsumed in Lomé came from Burkina Faso (i.e., Kompienga, 70 km from Dapaong), Ghana, andBenin. Truckloads of tomatoes passed through the region on their way to Lomé. RAFIA firstorganized a series of study tours to Burkina Faso and Benin, with representatives from farmerorganizations and village groups, to see how farmers were exploiting the lowlands. After thesevisits, and joint cost-benefit analyses, a specific program was developed to assist farmers withthe development of horticultural production. Thirty-five wells have been constructed with finan-cial assistance from Vredeseilanden (VeCO), a Belgium NGO. RAFIA provided technical advice tofarmers, from simple measures to harvest and retain water to the digging and maintenance ofirrigation canals; advice on agricultural techniques was also provided. Though diagnostic stud-ies indicated a large potential for several other horticultural crops, i.e., onions and cabbage;most farmers have chosen tomatoes as their principal crop.RAFIA quickly succeeded in diverting some large traders from their usual collection sites inBurkina Faso to the producers in the northern region. Of course the anticipated decrease intransportation costs and avoidance of customs duties was attractive to them. Nevertheless, thefarmers generally received very low prices because of a lack of coordination between the farmergroups and insufficient knowledge of prices and market outlets. With assistance from RAFIA,farmer-based committees organized the marketing of the vegetables produced. The role of thesecommittees was to collect information on prices and market outlets, contact traders, and negoti-ate on behalf of (specific) farmer groups with these traders. Though the negotiation process tookplace in the town of Dapaong, many farmers felt that they had lost control and they were oftenalso dissatisfied with the final result. Because there were many committees, i.e., one committeefor every farmer group, traders could easily play farmer groups against one another. To improveboth bargaining power and control in the negotiation process, a new institution was created—the Committee of Horticultural Activities (CAM). Traders now first discuss prices (i.e., bottom andceiling prices) with the interlocutors of CAM. Results of these negotiations are communicated toall the members before the traders go into the field and make the final deal with the farmergroups (and the local committees who are still there). Today the farmers all seem to be quitesatisfied with the interlocutors, al-though some of them feel that CAMcould be more pro-active in identifyingalternative marketing channels.RAFIA and IFDC now focus, togetherwith the farmers and other stakehold-ers in the region, on capacity buildingand strategic issues like the improve-ment of the credit structure, coordina-tion of new initiatives in horticulture,and opportunities to add value toagricultural products. Most importantly,there is a growing recognition withinthe region that improvement (i.e.,competitiveness) is not something thatprojects bring (and take) with them; it issomething to work for together.

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farmer to get potassium, he must buy a moreexpensive formula of N-P-K as 15-15-15.

“Growing these plots allowed farmers to ‘seefor themselves’ the role of N, P or K, and ofmucuna, in crop performance, and to rank thenutrients from the most to the least limiting.

“We hope the results will also help inputdealers and farmers advocate policy changes thatallow farmers access to cheaper potassium.”

Fertilizers and SustainableAgricultural Development and

Farmers for the Future Projects

With support from IFA and USAID, IFDC isundertaking two closely linked pilot projects topromote sustainable agricultural intensification bysmallholder farmers. The project, under the direc-tion of Dr. Arno Maatman of the Africa Division,is active in 7 West African countries, collaborateswith more than 30 public and private facilitatingorganizations, and has reached out to at least125,000 smallholder farmers and 500 local entre-preneurs, including farmer cooperatives involvedin pooling and distribution of inputs and/or mar-keting of agricultural products. The project en-abled the development of the competitive agricul-tural systems and enterprises (CASE) approach(see under the Thousands to Millions project), aholistic action-oriented approach that fosters bothtechnological and institutional change, throughbottom-up learning processes.

Adequate capacity strengthening, facilitatingand networking services have enabled farmers,local entrepreneurs, local business developmentservices, and credit institutions to strengthen thecompetitive advantages of pilot regions, forspecific commodities (e.g., rice, maize, cassava,cowpeas, horticultural crops, and products). Theseservices involve both social and individual learn-ing through training, experimentation (also withalternative institutional arrangements), studyvisits, networking, and platform-building activi-

ties. It also includes occasional support to well-targeted catalytic events such as trade fairs andmass media campaigns. Some results from the twopilot projects include:

1. Adoption of ISFM options is expanding. Anestimated total of 125,000 farmers haveadopted ISFM technologies on a significantpart of their farms. The value:cost ratios ofISFM options adopted are well above 2, andreturns to family labor are 2-6 times higherthan the average salary in the area. Farm-levelincomes of ISFM farmers have increased by20%-50%.

2. ISFM farmer learning groups established in300 pilot villages are taking the lead in thedevelopment and validation of ISFM optionsfor a focused set of marketable products andexperimenting with alternative institutionalarrangements to improve access to factor(including information) and product markets.

3. Organizational capacities of farmer groups inthe pilot areas improved. Farmer groups at thevillage and regional levels have assumed newroles, e.g., input provisioning, diffusion ofinformation, linkages to credit and savingssystems and local and regional traders, includ-ing retailers and fertilizer companies.

4. About 500 local entrepreneurs—inputs dealers,traders, managers of warehouses and process-ing units, including farmer cooperatives—havereceived training, participated in round tablemeetings, and worked with ISFM farmergroups.

5. Gender awareness increased in the pilot vil-lages and within the facilitating institutions.Women play an important role in the ISFMproject activities and related decision-making.They are on average equally represented in theISFM farmer groups and often have leadingroles.

6. Land tenure security improved for ISFMfarmers, including female farmers. In somecases, contracts between landowners and ISFMfarmers were established for a sequence ofyears.

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7. Capacities of facilitating organizations werestrengthened. The quality of services providedto farmers and local entrepreneurs has im-proved considerably.

To improve the exchange of experiencesbetween the various facilitating organizations—involving both public research and extensionsystems, private business development services,NGOs, farmer and trader organizations, and creditinstitutions—the Agricultural Intensification inSub-Saharan Africa (AISSA) network was estab-lished. This network is intended to become animportant platform to exchange information onagricultural intensification processes, to developand disseminate facilitation tools, and to stimulatemore effective collaboration.

The ISFM projects have been instrumental indeveloping the CASE approach, which is receiv-ing much attention in West Africa. As a balancedapproach, CASE focused on clusters and highlyspecific commodity value chains but is holisticbecause it deals with all the major actors involvedin cluster and commodity chain development. It isinclusive because it specifically targets small-scalefarmers, including young farmers and women, butexclusive as a process, stimulating innovationamong farmers and local entrepreneurs. TheSyngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture(FSAD) and Farmers for the Future (FfF) projectswill be integrated in the 1000s+ project in 2006,and contribute to specific elements in the 1000s+activities. The IFA-funded FSAD project willconcentrate even more on the input distributionaspects, and in particular timely access of farmersto fertilizers of good quality. Training of farmercooperatives and of input dealers, and establish-ment of inventory credit systems to strengthenaccess to credit, and increase efficiency in inputdelivery will be the key areas of interventionfinanced through the FSAD project. The FfFproject will focus more exclusively on the Nigersites, and further develop the successful ISFMproject in the Gaya and Maradi pilot areas. TheFfF sites in Niger will constitute a first ensembleof “learning centers,” and will have a pivotal rolein the dissemination of experiences and lessons

across the various 1000s+ pilot regions and clus-ters in West Africa.

Agricultural ProductionProgram in Mali

The International Program of the CooperativeLeague of the United States of America (CLUSA)is the prime contractor for a project calledPRODEPAM—Program for the Development ofAgricultural Production in Mali. IFDC is a mem-ber of a consortium led by CLUSA, which man-ages the project and focuses on farmer organiza-tion. Other consortium members and their areas offocus include: Sheladia (irrigation); Land O’Lakes(animal feed); and Approtec (irrigation equip-ment—pumps). IFDC is responsible for naturalresource management (NRM), production technol-ogy (irrigated crops), extension (ISFM strategies)and input marketing issues.

The goal of PRODEPAM, which began in2004, is to increase producer incomes and fostersustainable, environmentally sound economicgrowth. PRODEPAM is funded by USAID and isone of its primary projects in Mali. The projectaims to stimulate agricultural productivity in Maliin two sectors: (1) irrigated crops (rice and horti-cultural crops) and (2) animal feed. The projectcovers a large part of Mali: the Mopti, Ségou,Sikasso, Bamako, Tombouctou, and Gao regions.

IFDC has brought in a highly skilled andbalanced team to PRODEPAM. With two womenon the team, it is gender balanced. The teammembers have experience in the private sector, inNGOs, and with the CASE approach. The teambrings in new perspectives through staff fromBenin and Burkina Faso. Activities in 2005/06have concentrated on (1) the capacitystrengthening of farmer organizations incommunity-based seed production, pooling, andpurchasing of seeds and fertilizers; (2) training ofNGOs in participatory development of ISFMtechnologies, in particular for the production ofrice, potatoes, and wheat; (3) training of farmergroups and cooperatives (among others womengroups producing and marketing horticultural

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Providing Management Options toMoroccan Farmers for Improved Production

The purpose of the TAG 656-IFDC program is to help farmers alleviate poverty throughincreased income, food availability, and reduced risks. This is achieved by improvingagricultural planning and decision-making through the development and use of anInformation and Decision Support System (IDSS).

The IDSS prototype developed with our collaborators in Morocco uses an appliedsystems research approach that is based on Crop Simulation Models (CSM) includingthe Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) and spatial datahandling and display capabilities of GIS.

IDSS links together the soil and weather databases as polygon layers with a simula-tion model designed to mimic crop growth. The IDSS provides an interactive evalua-tion simulator with dynamic graphics that allows for assessing the feasibility of landunits for cereal production and for exploratory analysis with farmers, extensionists,and policymakers by providing rapid feedback on crop management.

When IDSS application is combined with real time, historical, and forecast weatherdata, then time-dependent strategic decisions can be made. Such decisions includethe determination of: (1) crops/varieties to grow, (2) planting date, (3) row spacing,(4) timing and rate of N application, and (5) crop rotation alternatives. Analysis ofalternatives offers opportunities to benefit from rainy seasons and reduces risks andassociated economic losses during poor rainfall years to farmers, and planning andtactical resources to policymakers.

The IDSS built for the Settat province in Morocco will help users save time because ofits ability to rapidly assess management alternatives, generate maps, and optimizemanagement scenarios. One of the outputs of the IDSS is a characterization of optimalzones for production, given a set of management inputs and economic data (costs ofinputs and value of the outputs). The IDSS generates maps that delineate areas ofhighest productivity and maximum economic return.

The second component to the analysis is an economic evaluation. Since a uniform setof management inputs is used for this simulation, the economic evaluation will largelyreflect the yields. The IDSS allows the user to specify costs and prices. The map pro-duced by intersecting the biophysical inputs and outputs to the system with the inputprice/cost structure generates a map showing potential profit per hectare for the area,given the constraints of the simulation. In some areas it is shown to be unprofitablegiven this set of management and costs; in this case, production inputs would need tobe optimized for those areas to identify sustainable inputs.

The value of the IDSS developed in Morocco is in its portability, site specificity, andflexibility. The same system can be utilized (and improved) at other locations as longas critical inputs such as weather and soil data are available. Yet, the IDSS should notbe considered a substitute for farmer knowledge, but rather as an additional tool thatoffers farmers options to help minimize risk and optimize the profit for the farmer.

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products, including onions, potatoes and rice) infarmer-to-farmer extension, formation ofcooperatives and marketing of agriculturalproduce; (4) organization of platforms andconsultative meetings between farmers, input-dealers, and credit institutions, to discuss andimprove efficiency of seed multiplication anddistribution (in particular for potatoes, and rice –e.g., NERICA varieties). IFDC’s contribution toPRODEPAM is highly appreciated, as has beenfirmly expressed in an external review carried outin 2006.

Adopting NutrientManagement Technologies

IFDC is conducting the Adopting Nutrient Man-agement Technologies (ANMAT) project thatpromotes the adoption of balanced fertilizer useand improved efficiency of fertilization inBangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The projectworks with NGOs and extension services todemonstrate the benefits of deep-placed ureasupergranules (USG) and NPK fertilizer granulesfor rice production. “In addition to increasingincomes of poor farmers, the improved practicesare more protective of the environment,” saysDr. Walter T. Bowen, Resident Project Coordina-tor—ANMAT II. The project uses baseline andimpact surveys to determine social and economicbenefits of urea and fertilizer deep placement(FDP). The IFDC methodology for participatoryevaluation and monitoring was characterized as“innovative” by an IFAD review team, because itdeparted from traditional baseline surveys bycollecting data on farmers’ “standard of living”and “life wishes.” The baseline and impact surveysare designed to follow investment flows anddocument improvements in standards of living thatresult from improved rice production and house-hold income.

Results:• Over 550,000 farmers are practicing urea deep

placement (UDP) in Bangladesh.

• Over 1,800 urea briquette-making machineshave been sold in Bangladesh since 1999 by11 different manufacturers.

• On-farm demonstrations managed by farmersshowed that the UDP technology increasedpaddy yields by 900-1,100 kg/ha, decreased ureafertilizer use by 78-150 kg urea per hectare, andsubsequently increased profits by US $116-137per hectare.

• The latest version of the Fertilization Recom-mendation Guide published in 2005 by theBangladesh Agricultural Research Council(BARC) contains a section on the deep place-ment of urea briquettes; the material included inthe guide was prepared by IFDC and partners.

• The Department of Agricultural Extension inBangladesh requested late June 2006 that IFDCassist in the development of a national campaignto promote UDP.

• About 6,700 farmers are now practicing FDP inVietnam.

• The supply chain for fertilizer briquettes inVietnam now consists of 4 machine manufactur-ers, 12 briquette producers, and 59 retailers.

• ANMAT partners in Vietnam participated in anational conference on agricultural technologyduring October 2005 in Hanoi, and provided apresentation that highlighted FDP. Also, prior to

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the meeting, FDP was officially approved fornational dissemination by the Vietnam Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development.

• Only recently introduced to Cambodia, over200 farmers have purchased urea and fertilizerbriquettes for deep placement in rice.

• The ANMAT training programs during 2005were 1-day farmer training sessions on the deepplacement of urea or fertilizer briquettes inwetland rice. During the year, the total numberof training sessions and farmers were asfollows:- Bangladesh: 16 training sessions, 312

farmers, 8 women- Cambodia: 12 training sessions, 208 farm-

ers, 34 women- Vietnam: 17 training sessions, 536 farmers,

85 women

Fertilizer Production

Training of Technicians, Engineers, andManagers in Fertilizer Production

IFDC’s expertise in the design and operation ofmany fertilizer production units of differenttechnologies has provided the background fortransmitting information on these subjects totechnicians, operators, engineers, and technicalmanagers around the world dedicated to thedesign, construction, and operation of fertilizerproduction facilities. Through the years of activi-ties, IFDC has satisfactorily trained thousands ofindustry personnel, which in many cases hasresulted in improvement of the operation andproduct quality of fertilizer-producing companiesaround the world.

In 2005, three major technical training pro-grams were carried out; one was conducted for aprivate fertilizer production facility in SouthAmerica, and two were presented for engineersworking in fertilizer companies throughout theworld.

In the program conducted for a private com-pany in South America, all the production, techni-cal, maintenance, laboratory, and administrativepersonnel of the company participated at the plantsite for 2 weeks. Two engineers from IFDC pre-sented a very complete program that was very wellreceived and complimented by the company’spersonnel. During the visit to the facility, the IFDCengineers also devoted some time to assessing theoperation of the plant and making recommenda-tions for improvements.

The other two programs were workshopscarried out for IFA, following on the success ofprevious workshops. One of the workshops wasdevoted to nitrogen fertilizers and the other one tophosphate and NPK fertilizers. Both workshops

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were held in Europeand were devoted toimproving thetechnical knowledgeof engineers in-volved in fertilizerproduction. Speak-ers were brought infrom many differentengineering compa-nies and productionfacilities around theworld.

The IFA Techni-cal Committeeprovided assistancein the developmentof the programcontent of theworkshops andmade some of theinitial contacts forspeakers and plantvisits. IFDC worked with the speakers, organizedthe presentations and programs, handled theadministrative arrangements, marketed the pro-gram, and assisted participants with visas andlogistical matters. Three IFDC engineers con-ducted the two programs, which attracted 26 par-ticipants from 14 countries for the nitrogen work-shop and 32 participants from 18 countries for thephosphate and NPK workshop. An exam was

Robert Bosheers, Supervisor (right) and DavidGooch, technician, taking technical data duringresearch work at the IFDC Pilot Plant.

given to the participants at the start of each of theworkshops and then at the end, to provide ameasure of the technical knowledge gained. Theaverage knowledge gain increase in the nitrogenworkshop was 30% and in the phosphorus andNPK workshop 28%, which shows a great im-provement in their understanding of fertilizerproduction technology.

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Private Sector Development

Market and ManagementInformation Systems

Supporting Agricultural InputMarkets in Developing Countries

The development of effective agricultural sectorsrequires the interlinking of elements to sustainproductivity, preserve natural resources, andprovide quality food and welfare for growingpopulations.

“Input and output markets are essential—andreliable agricultural information networks arecritical—to increased trade and business and thus,to poverty alleviation and food security,” saysDr. Julio Henao, IFDC Senior Scientist,Biometrics.

IFDC activities in Market and ManagementInformation Systems (MMIS) increase the use ofregional agricultural information by improving andlinking efforts to generate, disseminate, andcommercially use input market information.MMIS helps regional input markets and tradeassociations address both needs and constraints, tobuild strong and dynamic commodity chains thatuse the information to enhance input use and tomonitor prices, production, and trade.

“Good information enhances value-addedservices such as processing, packaging, andproduct quality,” Henao explains.

The ultimate objective is to improve informa-tion flows among public and private sectorsassociated with policy making, agricultural pro-duction, input markets, and trade.

Associated MMIS activities are to:

• Identify the information, methodologies, andprocedures that public and private institutions

use to collect and disseminate data. Determinethe strengths and weaknesses of those institu-tions, and their roles in market development.

• Assess key users and beneficiaries of agricul-tural information.

• Evaluate and improve the process of addingvalue to input market information, includingresources involved and technology used.

• Improve management systems, implementanalytical methods, and evaluate reportingsystems.

• Identify and describe communication productsprepared, and media used for their dissemina-tion. Evaluate strategies for information ex-change among institutions that provide informa-tion services. Analyze standards, consistency,timeliness, coverage, and reliability of theinformation.

• Assess network systems and platforms forinternet services and web site strategies for datatransfer and reporting. Assess GIS and othersystems that facilitate and support input marketsand trade.

Despite progress, many problems keep agricul-tural information underutilized and relativelyinefficient: stifling agricultural policies, excessiveregulations, lack of resources and training, anddeficient management services. The result iseconomic and financial costs; lack of continuity,especially in the public sector; low reliability; lackof stimuli for investment; and inefficient marketservices.

IFDC has collaborated with the public andprivate sectors in Albania to design strategies toorganize agricultural statistics for market support.Albania subsequently established a system thathelps the public sector organize and monitoragricultural statistics and maintain national ac-counts. This provides data and methodologies tothe private sector for establishing MIS. Other

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market information activities have been in EasternEurope, Africa, and Latin America. IFDC has alsoprovided information management support toAfghanistan.

Strengthening Networks of RegionalMarket Information Systems and Traders’

Organizations in West Africa

USAID awarded IFDC the 4-year MISTOWAproject in September 2004; this project aims toincrease regional agricultural trade and foodsecurity through the improvement and linkage ofthe existing regional efforts to generate, dissemi-nate, and commercially use market information.MISTOWA, under the guidance of Dr. S. KofiDebrah, Chief of Party, is helping regional MISand trade partners to address other constraints sothat strong and dynamic commodity chains emergethat will use the information to enhance produc-tion, handling, credit, trade, and value-addedservices such as post-harvest processing, packag-ing, and quality control. Effective MIS and traderorganizations will also heighten farmer awarenessof opportunities and technologies to increaseproduction and will facilitate the demand-pull forhigher value and quality agricultural products.

The MISTOWA project has accomplished thefollowing:

• Organized training, conferences, trade fairs andstudy tours in which approximately 9,000 par-ticipants from West Africa benefited.

• Awarded equipment grants totaling $800,000 topartners in 10 countries for the purchase ofcomputers and internet connectivity and associ-ated training to access market opportunities.

• Awarded $78,000 in competitive grants tofive partners in support of trade fairparticipation.

• Provided more information and opportunitiesthrough face-to-face events and training inInformation and Communication Technology(ICT) skills, including Internet search and ShortMessage Service (SMS) inquiries for producers

and traders, thus making the market moretransparent and efficient. As a consequence,producer and trader associations reportedmaking over $20.847 million trade deals involv-ing a variety of commodities.

• Trained 120 leaders of producer and traderorganizations from 10 West African countries inadvocacy, which led to the development of aregional advocacy plan to address road harass-ment, elimination of fake products and private-public sector partnership to generate and dis-seminate agricultural market information.

• Assisted with Network of West African MarketInformation Systems (RESIMAO) to develop acommon platform <www.resimao.org> to linktheir database information and databases forregional usage.

• Developed the project trade portal <www.wa-agritrade.net> and trained producers and tradersto access market opportunities through theportal, email, cellular phones, broadcast, andprint media.

MISTOWA: Making Market InformationAvailable to Stimulate Trade in Africa

Good market information is essential for thedevelopment of trade in commodities and inputsamong, and within, countries in West Africa.

“Farmers and traders have limited access toinformation on prices, markets, and supply anddemand,” says Dr. Kofi Debrah, Chief of Party ofthe MISTOWA project.

“Yet new information technology—email, theInternet, even text messaging on cellular phones—makes delivery of timely and accurate informationfar more practical than before.

“Traders and farmers learn to use the newtechnologies quickly—if they need the informa-tion. That’s proven by their reports of successfulbusiness deals that the technology makespossible.”

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The MISTOWA project was designed to putnew information tools, along with training in theiruse, into the hands of farmers and traders in WestAfrica.

“Information is needed to promote agriculturaldevelopment in West Africa,” Debrah says. Intra-regional trade is only about 10% of trade withnon-African countries. And within countries,inadequate market information means that farmersoften receive only about a third or less of the finalconsumer price of their products.

One reason that farmers are inadequatelycompensated for their products is the numeroushidden costs—including middlemen, fees, extor-tion, bribes, and taxes—a commodity goes throughfrom the field to the consumer (see box on page48).

“A commodity typically changes hands four orfive times, with added costs with each transaction,before reaching the final consumer,” Debrahpoints out.

“The high transaction costs mean that locallyproduced food is too expensive to compete withimports,” Debrah says. “The problem is the samewith the fertilizer and other inputs that farmersneed to produce that food.”

MISTOWA seeks to develop stronger marketsby reducing the costs of doing business at eachpart of the supply chain. In some cases, transac-tions may be eliminated.

MISTOWA also works to encourage tradeamong West African countries through collabora-tion with the 14-country Economic Community ofWest African States (ECOWAS) and West AfricanTrade Hub.

MISTOWA is also training leaders of farmerand trader associations in advocacy so they candemand changes to enable people, food, andagricultural inputs to cross borders more freely.

“Whenever traders cross a national border,they encounter harassment through extortion andbribes,” Debrah explains. “We’re making traderand farmer leaders aware of how this problemstifles trade—and how they can pressure decision-makers to implement changes that encourage freemovement.”

The MISTOWA program is funded for 2004-2008 through the West African Regional Programof USAID.

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From Thousands to Millions—Linking Farmers to Markets Through

Scale-Up of the CASE Approach

From Thousands to Millions: Accelerating Sus-tainable Agricultural Intensification and Eco-nomic Growth in West Africa, or 1000s+, willstrengthen the capacities of 1 million farmingfamilies—involving 10 million people—to inno-vate and profit from market opportunities inselected target areas of five West African coun-tries, says Dr. Arnoldus J. Maatman, Chief of Party– SAADA. 1000s+ will also reinforce the capaci-ties of 2,000 local enterprises, including farmercooperatives and business development services,in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeriato engage in input distribution, processing, stor-

Strategic Alliance for Agricultural Development in Africa (SAADA)

Building an effective agricultural sector requires simultaneous efforts on many interlinkedelements. The SAADA grant will enable IFDC to use proven techniques to develop competi-tive agricultural systems and viable agri-enterprises based on sustainable intensification ofagricultural production and commodity chain development. IFDC proposes a three-prongedprogram to maximize SAADA’s impact.

• First, IFDC has designed a project to scale up the successful CASE approach in WestAfrica to take advantage of the solid foundation and opportunity to transform rural liveli-hoods in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria. The project, From Thousands toMillions, will increase economic growth and agricultural productivity, thus improving foodsecurity and rural welfare.

• Second, IFDC will expand and replicate the CASE approach in other critical areas ofAfrica, such as the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Groundwork has beendone; proven systems are available that make such an expansion feasible.

• Third, IFDC will extend its experience and add new thematic elements to provide specialfocus on women and trade capacity building, and to meet the declining conditions thatreduce or inhibit the capacity of African rural populations to improve agricultural produc-tivity: increasing environmental degradation, the spread of HIV/AIDS, conflict, and poorgovernance.

The program will accelerate implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Devel-opment Program (CAADP) of NEPAD. It will contribute to the target of 6% annual growth inagricultural productivity and provide measurable results toward meeting the MillenniumDevelopment Goals 1 (eradication of extreme poverty and hunger), 3 (promotion of genderequity and empowerment of women), 6 (combat HIV/AIDS), and 7 (ensure environmentalsustainability). The project will also indirectly contribute to achieving Goal 4 (reduce childmortality).

age, and marketing of agricultural products, and tofacilitate agricultural intensification. 1000s+ isPart A of a Strategic Alliance for AgriculturalDevelopment between DGIS of the Netherlandsand IFDC (see box below).

Expected results of the project are:• A 50% average increase in agricultural produc-

tivity and a 30% average income growth for1 million rural farm households.

• A measurable increase in environmentallysustainable production on an additional 2 mil-lion ha of farmland.

• Improved food security through an increase inaggregated agricultural productivity of500,000 tons of cereal equivalents.

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• More effective private sectorcapacity to serve farmers. The2,000 project beneficiary dealers,traders, processors, and others areexpected to increase their businessby an estimated 50% and to expandthe number of retail and otherenterprises, and of employees, byanother 50%.

“1000s+ uses a proven methodfor agricultural development forresource-poor farmers in Africa,”Maatman says. Four well-knownconcepts are at the basis of the CASEapproach: (1) ISFM, or the judicioususe of mineral fertilizers combinedwith locally available organic amend-ments to increase land productivityand to maintain or enhance soilfertility and improve environmentalquality; (2) agri-business clusterformation, which aims to strengthenthe competencies of and linkagesamong the principal actors at thegrassroots (for example, farmers;entrepreneurs involved in the produc-tion and distribution of inputs andprocessing, storage and marketing ofagricultural products; business devel-opment services; and bankers);(3) development and strengthening ofcommodity chains by improvingefficiency of markets and coordination betweenthe agribusiness clusters and national and interna-tional markets; and (4) facilitation of a construc-tive dialogue between public and private sectors tobuild favorable market environments, particularlythe selected clusters and commodity value chains.While ISFM is an “entry-point” methodology tostart working with farmers and farmer groups andto build confidence, the three other conceptsjointly constitute what we call the “pillars” ofsustainable agricultural intensification. The figureabove gives a schematic presentation of the CASEapproach.

Cluster building: strengthening of capacities and of coordinationamong the principal actors (farmers, input suppliers, processorsand traders of agricultural produce, business developmentservices, and bankers). The term “entrepreneurs” may besomewhat misleading, because farmers, bankers, and businessdevelopment services are also entrepreneurs. Also in the “entre-preneurs” (inputs) or (outputs) circles are farmer cooperativesthat supply inputs or market agricultural products.

The CASE approach evolved partly fromISFM projects such as FSAD and FfF and partlyfrom recognition that technology-push strategies topromote risky agricultural intensification pro-cesses rarely work. Profound changes at thegrassroots level are often needed to enable farmersto invest in external inputs such as improvedseeds, fertilizers, CPPs, and adequate equipment.Such changes include: (1) improved access toinputs, credit, and adequate information; (2) stron-ger management competencies of farmers, localentrepreneurs, and grassroots organizations; and(3) better coordination among farmers, local

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entrepreneurs (including farmer cooperatives)involved in processing, storage, and/or trade; andthe principal actors and facilitating organizations,including credit institutions and NGOs. The CASEapproach strengthens innovative competencies,including those needed to improve coordinationamong the various actors at both local and re-gional levels and within specific commoditychains without substituting for market agents.CASE facilitates; the responsibility for develop-ment stays with the primary actors at thegrassroots level.

“More than 125,000 farmers in West Africahave adopted ISFM technologies,” Maatman says.Their average agricultural productivity has morethan doubled, value:cost ratios of adopted ISFMoptions are well above 2, and farm-level incomesof ISFM farmers have increased by 20% to 50%.IFDC has helped establish farmer “learninggroups” in 300 pilot villages, which are taking thelead in development and validation of ISFMoptions for a focused set of marketable products.Organizational capacities of the farmers in thepilot areas have improved markedly. Women in thepilot villages and the facilitating institutions playan important role in the ISFM project activitiesand related decision-making. As CASE evolved,IFDC trained more than 250 local entrepreneurs—input dealers, traders, and managers of warehousesand processing units.

The costs of the CASE approach have beenestimated at about $50 per target farmer in ourprevious projects. When scaling up, the antici-pated costs per farmer are estimated to decreaseconsiderably. To this end the 1000s+ project will,among other things, leverage ongoing projects thatalready partially apply the CASE approach andincorporate the best practices of successful IFDCprojects to develop agri-input markets and tradeassociations. The existing AISSA network ofpartner institutions, trained to provide capacitybuilding on our already proven approaches fortechnical and institutional innovation, will allowus to accelerate the scaling up process at lowercost. Besides working with regional organizations

and projects, IFDC plans to collaborate closelywith AgriCord (a consortium of agri-agencies thatincludes Agriterra in the Netherlands, FrenchFarmers and International Development (AFDI) inFrance, and the Union of Agriculture Producers/Development International (UPA/DI) in Canada)and national and regional farmer organizations inWest Africa, to ensure effective participation andcontrol of farmer organizations within the 1000s+project. The International Center forDevelopment-Oriented Research in Agriculture(ICRA) will train national-level teams, tostrengthen national capacity in facilitating theCASE approach.

Although agreement with DGIS was reachedby late 2005, the contract and implementationletters were signed in April 2006. In anticipationof the contract, IFDC started discussing workplans and project management together with theAISSA network, AgriCord and national-levelfarmer organizations, and ICRA. The projectshould accomplish two critical operational objec-tives early after its start, and with the implement-ing partners, should simultaneously pursue a three-pronged programmatic approach for 2006. Thegoal has been to set the stage for a bottom up,participatory planning process while generatingmomentum, models, methodology, and motivationamong staff and partners. The two major opera-tional objectives are to:• Establish the project office and have a fully

functioning team and method of monitoring andevaluation in place by late June.

• Reach an agreement with AgriCord that will puta producer organization expert on the team inBamako, and pair producer organization advi-sors with national cluster advisors, to integratefarmer capacity to organize, plan, and managefrom the beginning.

Staffing for 2006 is almost complete andincludes a project coordinator, an agribusinessspecialist, cluster advisors in Benin, Burkina Faso,and Ghana (cluster advisors in Mali and Nigeriawill be hired in 2007), and rural financing, gender,and participatory monitoring and evaluation

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specialists. Staffing is kept low to maximizeopportunities for subcontracting at the grassrootslevel, through business development services andfarmer organizations, and to maintain flexibility inproject cycle management. The latter is crucial asfarmer organizations and farmer-led nationalcommittees are foreseen to play a major role indecision-making on the selection of clusters to addto the project portfolio, and the monitoring ofservices provided by AISSA and other facilitatinginstitutions. The discussions with AgriCord con-tinue; the dialogue also involves discussion andnegotiations with farmer organizations at nationaland regional levels (for example, the Network ofFarmer Organizations and Agricultural Producers[ROPPA]) in West Africa. Awaiting agreementwith AgriCord and affiliated farmer organizations,only existing ISFM sites will be used to scale-upcase approaches as learning opportunities; strate-gic choices of new cluster activities will be left inthe hands of the farmer-led committees.

IFDC has an agreement with AgriCord, ICRA,and partner institutions in the AISSA network onthe following three simultaneous programmaticthemes for 2006:

1. Build on the existing CASE agribusinessclusters and use them as multipliers to scale upin neighboring areas.

Activities in about 30 clusters in the five targetcountries, including a few in existing sites inTogo and Niger, have been discussed in stake-holder meetings in Benin, Niger, and Mali.Activities concentrate on the one hand on the“deepening” and capitalization of the CASEapproach, as advised by the July 2006 externalreview of the ISFM project; and the scaling-upof results already achieved (extension of ISFMtechnologies, wider application of inventorycredit systems, strengthening of farmer organi-

zations in processing and marketing of agricul-tural products, training and support to inputdealers and farmer cooperatives to increaseefficiency of input delivery). Local projectofficers are actively involved in the planningof scaling-up activities of the CASE approachin existing clusters.

2. Facilitate and work with farmer-led nationalcommittees of stakeholders and “core” capac-ity strengthening teams to refine the imple-mentation plan and to select strategic sites andcommodities as the basis of the work andactivity plan for year two (2007).

ICRA will train and strengthen national capac-ity strengthening teams (NCSTs) in Mali andBenin. The team members will develop spe-cific cluster business and national capacitystrengthening plans. A memorandum of under-standing with ICRA is being drafted that willensure training of NCSTs from all five targetcountries over the next 3 years.

3. Take advantage of IFDC and other trainingprograms and best practices in the region totrain trainers and develop cadres of CASE/cluster experts who can champion the ap-proach at the national level.

Two international CASE training programswere conducted. One was in November 2005in Bamako, Mali, for Francophone partici-pants; the other was in April 2006 inSogakope, Ghana, for Anglophones. The 40participants included representatives of na-tional farmer organizations, NGOs, and traderassociations. A team from Kenya also partici-pated in the Ghana CASE training. Participantsare preparing business plans for CASE ap-proaches in their countries.

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Favorable Socioeconomic andPolicy Environments for Soil

Fertility Improvement

The Favorable Socioeconomic and Policy Envi-ronments for Soil Fertility Improvement(FASEPE) project has promoted sustainableagricultural production and market developmentby improving socioeconomic and policy condi-tions in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Mali since1999. The 6-year project, funded by the Govern-ment of the Netherlands, ended in 2005. TheFASEPE approach was to guide farmers and theprivate sector, and their organizations, in adoptingpractices that improve soil fertility, agriculturalproduction, farm incomes, and rural development,says Robert Groot, Director, IFDC AfricaDivision.

FASEPE accomplishments follow:

• Completed a study of, and provided technicalassistance to, associations of private sector inputdealers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.

• Partnered with existing and new networks ofMIS in Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, andNigeria to form the African Agricultural MarketInformation Network (AFAMIN), and devel-oped a web-based MIS for agricultural inputs.

• Organized workshops on soil fertility improve-ment for policymakers, and finalized a nationalaction plan for soil fertility improvement inMali.

• Helped develop regulatory systems for fertilizerand seed quality control that are compatiblewith open markets in Burkina Faso, Ghana, andMali.

• Developed training materials for demand-drivencapacity building, and conducted technical andadvocacy training workshops for producergroups and trade associations.

• Helped establish federations of farmer organiza-tions in Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

• Formed strategic alliances with farmer anddealer organizations in West Africa and otherAfrican countries.

• Continued promotion of soil fertility programsdespite disappointments with national actionplans.

The donor’s evaluation at the end of theproject concluded that FASEPE contributed to thesustainability of the agricultural input supply, andimproved the socioeconomic and political environ-ment for soil fertility management in West Africa.The FASEPE project improved awareness of soilfertility issues and increased both knowledge andorganizational capacity of farmers, agri-inputdealers and other public and private institutions. Ithelped IFDC work with NEPAD on the CAADPobjectives and the Millennium DevelopmentGoals related to increasing agricultural productionin Africa.

Policy, Trade, and Markets Program

Policy Dialogue and Reforms

Creating an enabling policy environment formarket development and private sector participa-tion remains a key objective of the Policy, Trade,and Markets (PTM) Program. IFDC staff traveledto several countries to help design and implementsound policies.

NigeriaWith DGIS funding, IFDC helped the Governmentof Nigeria draft and validate the National FertilizerPolicy Document. The IFDC team helped coordi-nate preparation of a national policy documentconcerning fertilizer import and production,research, extension, soil testing and fertilizerrecommendations, and regulatory systems. Thedocument also identified appropriate roles forpublic and private sector stakeholders in a partner-ship mode. More significantly, the national policystrongly emphasizes a private sector-based fertil-izer distribution system, with a provision formarket friendly safety nets. The draft policydocument was validated at a national stakeholderworkshop in April 2006 and was presented at theAfrica Fertilizer Summit in June 2006 in Abuja.

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MalawiIn August 2005, the Government of Malawichanged its policy on fertilizer distribution to asystem that was not market friendly. It decided todistribute 147,000 tons of fertilizer products to2 million farmers at a subsidized price and throughgovernment-owned parastatals. Private sectorinput dealers were excluded from the marketing ofsubsidized inputs. IFDC prepared several policybriefs and visited Malawi to have policy dialoguewith the government and development partners toallow the private sector an appropriate role infertilizer marketing. B. L. Bumb from IFDC alsoparticipated in the Malawi Fertilizer Sector Work-shop in May 2006 in Lilongwe and gave a presen-tation on “Improving the Fertilizer Supply inAfrica,” proposing several options to help poorfarmers in a market friendly manner whilestrengthening the functioning and performance ofinput markets.

Action Plan Development Work

Seed Sector Development in MozambiqueIn collaboration with the International CropsResearch Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics(ICRISAT), IFDC assessed seed and other inputmarkets in Mozambique. An IFDC team visitedMozambique in September 2005 and interactedwith several stakeholders in both the public andprivate sectors. Several constraints to input marketdevelopment were identified, especially in theseed sector. Constraints were identified in theproduction of foundation seed and certified seed,quality control, and dealer networks. A limitednumber of private seed companies and theirconcentration in a few locations added to the costof seed supply and use. The quality control systemand limited number of dealers in rural areas alsoconstrained the development of the seed market.

This assessment led to the launching of theAgricultural Input Markets Strengthening (AIMS)Project in 2006. The 30-month project is beingimplemented in collaboration with ICRISAT,International Institute for Tropical Agriculture

(IITA), and Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs(CNFA). The project will focus on input marketdevelopment, dealer training, seed production andmarketing, and soil fertility restoration throughcereal-legumes rotation. The project is headquar-tered at Beira. AIMS will also conduct feasibilitystudies on public-private partnership in seedproduction, and regional integration of fertilizermarkets in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, andZimbabwe through holding warehouse develop-ment and fertilizer production facilities at or nearthe Beira port.

Seed Sector Development in TanzaniaIn collaboration with ICRISAT and Iowa StateUniversity, U.S.A., IFDC assessed the seed marketin Tanzania. The assessment was sponsored by theMinistry of Agriculture and Food Security. Theassessment team, which included stakeholdersfrom both the public and private sectorS, visitedTanzania in January and February 2006, andtraveled to several regions including Morogoro,Iringa, Mbeya, Makumbako, Arusha, andKilimanjaro. Discussions were held with stake-holders from both public and private sectors andthe donor community. The assessment team alsointeracted with a World Bank team visiting Tanza-nia to develop a follow-up agricultural sectordevelopment program.

Several constraints affecting the performanceof seed production and marketing were identified.The existing system for foundation seed produc-tion lacked autonomy, authority, and accountabil-ity. The quality control and seed production sys-tems were poorly developed. A lack of dealernetworks in rural areas was the missing linkbetween seed production and seed use. The assess-ment team made several suggestions for improv-ing the seed supply system related to an enablingpolicy environment, public and private partner-ships in seed production, an accreditation systemfor quality control, and seed production for sor-ghum and millet.

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Seed Policy Harmonization Workshop,Lomé, Togo, December 2005Under partial support from Sustainable Commer-cialization of Seed in Africa (SCOSA), IFDCorganized a regional workshop for the WestAfrican Economic and Monetary Union(UEMOA) and ECOWAS. Attended by more than100 stakeholders, draft documents on seed policyregulation and certification procedures werediscussed. Due to technical problems, draft docu-ments in French were validated at the workshop,but it was decided that after proper technical andlegal translations, English documents should bevalidated at a future workshop.

Angola

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Develop-ment organized a workshop, attended bypolicymakers, donors, and other stakeholders, onMarket-Oriented Family Production Agriculture nJuly 2006. Dr. Maria Wanzala, IFDC/NEPADCoordinator, gave a presentation on “DevelopingAgricultural Input Markets: Challenges and Op-tions for Angola.” The presentation focused onissues in market development and market-friendlysafety nets based on the voucher system. IFDC’sexperiences in implementing voucher systems inMalawi, Nigeria, and Afghanistan were discussedin detail. The World Bank, European Union (EU),and the Ministry expressed a desire to implementan IFDC-type market development project, using avoucher system, in Angola. IFDC will continue towork with the Government of Angola and devel-opment partners to develop and implement such aproject.

Project Implementation Experiences

• Malawi AIMs Project• MIR Project• MISTOWA Project• Afghanistan Projects• Uganda Project• Kyrgyzstan Project

Marketing Inputs Regionally

IFDC is implementing a 5-year project that willstrengthen the private sector and facilitate dialogueamong stakeholders with the aim of developingthe regional agri-input market in West Africa. Theproject is setting the stage for improved marketefficiency and increased competition. Key activi-ties are the reform and harmonization of policies,regulations, and practices related to seeds, fertiliz-ers, and CPPs for the region. The project is sup-porting the creation and the strengthening ofnational and regional agri-input trade associations.It is training and supporting the emerging inputbusinesses while reinforcing the MIS, at both thenational and regional levels. Special attention isgiven to the cotton sector inputs for increasedcompetitiveness in the global market. The projectcoordination is based in Burkina Faso with officesin Benin, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo.

Since June 2004, the Marketing Inputs Region-ally (MIR) project has accomplished thefollowing:

• Facilitated the development of a regional seedlegislation, in collaboration with UEMOA andECOWAS. This legislation includes a “Com-mon Catalog of Plant Species and VarietiesCultivated” in the Member State and “ProposedNorms for the Harmonization of Seed QualityControl and Certification.” It is expected to beadopted by UEMOA and ECOWAS in 2006.

• Supported the drafting of the Economic Com-munity of West African Agricultural Policy(ECOWAP). Because of the active participationof MIR as a task force member involved in thedrafting of the policy, a specific paragraph onagri-inputs and soil fertility has been added tothe final ECOWAS agricultural policy documentadopted in January 2005.

• Assisted ECOWAS in the development of itsregional strategy of fertilizer promotion for theAfrican Fertilizer Summit in Abuja in June2006.

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• Co-organized a regional workshop to develop aroad map for regional regulations for CPPs. Thisworkshop aimed at developing a roadmap forharmonizing the regulatory framework for plantprotection products in West Africa. The 34 par-ticipants from the public sector, private sector,and regional and international organizationsadopted the roadmap. MIR is also facilitatingthe implementation of this road map.

• Launched a campaign to revise the tariffs onagri-inputs imported from countries outside theUEMOA zone. MIR undertook an awarenesscampaign on customs exemption rights onfertilizers imported from countries that are notin the UEMOA zone, in particular, urea. Thereport of this study will be used by farmer-based organizations for lobbying actions.

• Realized and displayed a 27-minute documen-tary film titled “Hope for West Africa Agro-Input Markets” in Burkina Faso, Benin, Togoand Ghana. The display was followed by adebate on input procurement in the region, witha panel of stakeholders of the input market andall participants. Further to this activity, otherIFDC projects as well as outside partners usedthe documentary film as a basis of training andsensitization activities.

• Facilitated six district-level workshops with theMalian Permanent Assembly of AgricultureChambers (APCAM) in order to identify theconstraints of input purchase and to makerecommendations. This analysis and the recom-mendations were synthesized during a nationalworkshop in July 2006. MIR has already startedsome follow-up activities to improve the inputprocurement process.

• Supported the creation of the National SeedAssociation of Benin in May 2006 and sup-ported the institutional and organizationaldevelopment of national agri-input trade asso-ciations in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo andNigeria. MIR also facilitated a regional work-shop for these associations, to help them sharetheir experiences and discuss the issue ofprofessionalization of their members.

• Helped create the Federation of African Agricul-tural Input Trade Associations (FACIA), which

was launched in October 2004. The Federationcomprises 33 country agri-input trade associa-tions from 14 West and Central African coun-tries, giving a single advocacy voice to morethan 4,900 agri-input traders in the region. MIRsupported the Executive Secretary of FACIA inhis first activities.

• Facilitated in September 2005 a federalstrengthening workshop for four State levelNigerian agri-input dealers’ associations, whichled to the set up of a Joint Action Committee(JAC). Since September 2005, the JAC lobbiedthe Federal Government to adopt a regulation onfertilizers.

• Facilitated Trainings of Trainers on safe use ofCPPs in Mali, Senegal, Ghana and Côted’Ivoire, in collaboration with CropLife AfricaMiddle-East (representing the plant scienceindustry). The trained participants represent theprivate and the public sectors and will, on theirturn, train input dealers and farmers on the safeand responsible use of agri-inputs.

• Organized in February 2006 a study tour offarmers and researchers to the InternationalAgriculture Trade of Paris. After the tour, trialsto improve and adapt to the current needs of thecotton fertilizer formula were launched in fourWest African countries with support of privatefertilizer suppliers.

• Launched in collaboration with the West andCentral African Council for Agricultural Re-search and Development a series of trials of trapplants associated with cotton (Benin, Togo,Burkina Faso and Mali). The aim is to developnew strategies to protect cotton from its mainpests.

• Co-organized a workshop on bio-security andbiotechnology in West Africa. This workshop,which attracted about 30 participants fromdifferent countries of West and Central Africa,helped to introduce new seed technologies andto strengthen the research capabilities in theirdecisions on biotechnology and bio-safetyissues. It also reopened the dialogue between theMIR cotton partners and the seed profession onbiotechnology issues. In 2006, MIR co-orga-nized a regional workshop on Intellectual

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Property Protection to sensitize and informresearchers on the procedure to protect theircotton varieties.

• Published a study report on the statement of theagri-input market of Benin. This report gives astatement of the market, identifies the obstaclesrelated to its development, and suggests somerecommendations for its strengthening.

Maximizing AgriculturalRevenue and Key Enterprises in

Targeted Sites (Nigeria)

The 5-year Maximizing Agricultural Revenue andKey Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS)project focuses on expanding economic opportuni-ties in the agricultural sector by increasing agricul-tural productivity, enhancing value-added process-ing, and increasing commercialization throughprivate sector-led and market-driven growth anddevelopment.

The project aims to transform Nigerian agri-culture in selected areas from low input/lowoutput, subsistence farming to commerciallycompetitive agriculture. It will identify and ad-dress priority food and cash crop/non-crop systemswhere productivity gains will lead to (1) signifi-cant impacts on the economy and (2) improve-ments in household livelihoods of those involvedin the agriculture sector.

“IFDC’s role is to help improve the agri-inputs supply system to enhance the sale of im-proved seeds, fertilizers, and CPPs by workingwith producers, importers, wholesale/retail agri-input dealers, and project clients that use inputs,”says Dan Waterman, Director of the Training andWorkshop Coordination Department at Headquar-ters in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (U.S.A.). Headded, “In that way the MARKETS project canbuild on the success of the 3-year IFDCDAIMINA [Developing Agri-Input Markets inNigeria] project.”

Waterman continues, “Driven by the identifieddemand for specific yield-enhancing products and

their use technologies, MARKETS will formulatean input supply and technology transfer strategyfor each target commodity and organize the train-ing and networking of agri-input dealers and thetechnology transfer for outgrowers and other cropproducers.”

MARKETS will disseminate and improveskills in product knowledge, marketing, businessmanagement and input use technologies/practicesas demanded by farmers and agri-input dealers,through a variety of activities. For example, theproject will help the dealers to strengthen theirbusiness, expand their networks, and improve theirextension services and institutional capability. Theproject will conduct participatory field demonstra-tions via learning centers and provide technicalinformation.

MARKETS will also establish CommodityProduction Sites, which are high potential geo-graphic sites for sorghum, rice, and cowpea thatwill capitalize on previous efforts and investments.

An IFDC long-term advisor will providetechnical advice to the project leadership and tothe agri-input coordinators and help ensure thatrelevant project objectives and targets are met, inparticular the total supply of fertilizer and thenumber of farmers networked.

Advice will also be offered to Nigerian manu-facturers, producers, importers, and wholesale/retail agri-input dealers. IFDC staff will organizetraining on efficient handling and storage methods,logistics planning, and knowledge of inputs, salespromotion, and credit sales.

The IFDC team will oversee on-farm demon-strations of improved technologies/practices anddevelop training materials and facilitate targetedtraining in collaboration with business partners,importers of fertilizers and CPPs, producers ofseeds in Nigeria, and extension agents. They willalso provide advice to the agri-input tradeassociations.

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Waterman says, “The objectives are to maxi-mize the ability of dealers to supply project cli-ents, minimize transaction costs, and expand theadoption of improved inputs needed to increaseproduction and quality.”

Uganda Agricultural ProductionEnhancement Program

Since 2004 IFDC has been participating in aproject to expand the economic opportunities inthe Uganda agricultural sector by increasingagricultural productivity and marketing of keyfood and cash crops. The project seeks to move asubstantial number of subsistence farmers to acommercial and profitable orientation. IFDCprovides short-term technical expertise to promoteimproved performance in the agricultural inputsmarkets. Initial activities focus on improvingmarket transparency, developing the technicalcapacity and business knowledge of agriculturalinput dealers, strengthening trade linkages be-tween Kenya agricultural input importers/wholesalers and Ugandan dealers, and updatingfertilizer recommendations for key crops—coffee,banana, and cotton.

Results:• More than 310 agricultural dealers and producer

organization trainers were trained during the7 training workshops conducted throughoutUganda. The topics covered were internationalfertilizer situation, trading, management ofsmall and medium enterprises, and technicalaspects of fertilizers, seed, and CPPs.

• More than 400 copies of the IFDC agri-inputretailer guide have been distributed.

• A monthly newsletter containing information oninput prices, global trends, and tip of the monthhas been in publication since January 2005.

• A prototype fertilizer recommendation systemhas been developed for field validation.

The Role of Input Vouchersin Pro-Poor Growth

Approximately three-quarters of the 230 millionha of farmed land in sub-Saharan Africa is de-graded and about 70 million smallholder farmfamilies are caught in a poverty trap of decliningagricultural productivity, degrading soils, foodinsecurity, limited market participation, and off-farm employment opportunities. An estimated80% of these smallholder families struggle tosurvive below the poverty line on less than a dollara day. A major cause is low farm productivity. Soilnutrient depletion is a significant factor in lowagricultural productivity. As a result, grain yield inAfrica has stagnated at 1 ton/ha for two decadesand grain imports will need to be over 60 milliontons per year by 2010. Soil nutrient depletion hasreached more than 60 kg/ha in 21 countries andbetween 30 and 60 kg/ha in another 22 countriesin sub-Saharan Africa. The declining fertility of

Fertilizer vouchers used in Afghanistan.

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African soils because of nutrient mining is one ofthe main causes of stagnating crop yields anddeclining per capita food production. In the longerterm it is a key source of land degradation andenvironmental damage.

IFDC has reviewed some of the supply- anddemand-side constraints to increased fertilizer useand defined the attributes of pro-poor growth. Thisis defined as growth that benefits the poor. Currentagricultural development programs based onidentified markets for value chain developmentbenefit the smallholder participants through newtechnology adoption and access to remunerativemarkets. The paucity of evidence that these pro-grams create a trickle-down effect to the millionsof non-participatory smallholder families demandsa fresh examination of how rural development canbe implemented that will create opportunities forthese millions to increase productivity, diversifycropping, and fully participate in markets.

Holistic development programs are requiredthat are pro-poor. The use of input vouchers ispresented as a flexible development tool for jump-starting this participation for the poor. IFDC’sexperience with input vouchers in Malawi, Af-ghanistan, and Nigeria (each program with differ-ent objectives) illustrates how both smallholderfarmers and small input dealers can benefit.Vouchers, however, are only “smart subsidies” andmust be matched by holistic development assis-tance for the targeted poor. The cost and medium-to long-term horizons to reach sustainability aresubstantial and require that considerable analysis,objective setting, and implementation planning beperformed prior to embracing this useful policytool.

Rebuilding Agricultural Marketsin Afghanistan Program

Since February 2004 IFDC has been participatingas a subcontractor in the Rebuilding AgriculturalMarkets in Afghanistan Program (RAMP) thataims to restore food security in devastated Af-ghanistan by increasing agricultural productivity

and output and by improving linkages amongproducers, processors, and markets. IFDC isworking to develop the agricultural input marketsystem. This project was later expanded to includea divestment study of the Afghan Fertilizer Com-pany. In spite of challenging security since March2004, the project has achieved significant resultsto date including:• Trained more than 2,521 agri-input dealers,

importers, retailers, and extension workers.• Collaborated with the International Center for

Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas(ICARDA), FAO, and other NGOs to organizefield demonstrations to demonstrate crop pro-duction and input use technologies.

• Published and disseminated more than 37,000wall posters, charts, leaflets, and brochures on20 different topics and distributed the materialsto agri-input dealers, farmers, and extensionworkers.

• Conducted a market survey to obtain currentand reliable information on the status of dealerdevelopment and marketing infrastructure.

• Facilitated the formation and registration ofseven provincial associations and one nationalassociation of agri-input dealers. The executivemembers of the associations were trained inpolicy dialogue, business promotion, andnetworking.

• Facilitated the procurement of inputs fromwholesale dealers and importers and trained thedealers in business negotiations.

• Initiated a marketing information system bycollecting and disseminating current and reliableinformation on prices of inputs and crop pro-duce in Afghanistan and regional markets.

• Established a loan program under a job orderfrom RAMP. Eight agri-input companies weregiven loans for seed production and fertilizerprocurement.

• Facilitated business linkages between agri-inputdealers, importers, producers, financial institu-tions, extension agents, and NGOs to promotebusiness confidence and enhance businessdealings.

• Supported implementation of the AgriculturalInput Supply Program (AISP) and Agricultural

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Marketing and Production Support (AMPS)activity.

The activities of the Agricultural Input DealerTraining and Development Project (AIDTDP)have increased the usage of high-quality fertilizersin several provinces. Furthermore, the trainingprograms have enabled the dealers to work directlywith the farmers and explain why price is not theonly criteria when selecting a fertilizer. The activi-ties of the project have linked remote retailers withimporters to improve both the quality and quantityof fertilizer available to the farmers of Afghani-stan. Improved business linkages in the marketingsystem have also resulted in a positive impact onthe timeliness of fertilizer supply availability. Theproject is playing a key role in developing thedealers of Afghanistan to act as a single group andto have a voice in their future.

Food for AgriculturalRevitalization and Market Systems

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),through its Food for Progress Program (FFP),recently awarded IFDC a grant to monetize 5,150tons of soybean oil in Afghanistan and 10,000 tonsof soybeans in Pakistan. IFDC will use all pro-ceeds from the commodity sales to implement theFood for Agricultural Revitalization and MarketSystems (FARMS) project in Afghanistan.FARMS provides technical assistance in improvednutrient management for food crops (wheat,maize, vegetables) and higher-value crops such asoilseeds (peanut, soybean), along with technicaland market development assistance to the existingmilling industry.

“The ultimate goal of FARMS is to replaceimports of some staple foods and food products,such as flour and cooking oil, with competitivedomestic production,” says Dr. Deborah Hellums,Coordinator – Field Projects.

Experience has shown that widespread dis-semination to farmers of information on improvednutrient management techniques quickly increases

crop production. IFDC will identify up-to-datenutrient management techniques for importantcrops to disseminate by combining results fromsite-specific on-farm demonstrations and researchtrials.

“We’ll analyze various nutrient managementpractices and use DSSs to develop nationwiderecommendations that will increase land produc-tivity and reduce risks to farmers,” Hellums says.In the spring of 2006, IFDC began partnering withthe Afghanistan Ministry of Agriculture and itsextension staff to conduct site-specific researchand on-farm trials in five important agro-ecological zones. The field data will be combinedwith DSS tools such as crop simulation modelsand GIS, and with geo-referenced databases, toidentify appropriate nutrient management practicesand production capabilities.

“A viable market is needed to absorb theincreased crop output, so we’ll focus simulta-neously on market development,” Hellums ex-plains. “We’ll link farmers with processors—millers and oilseed crushers—to add value to theproduce and give farmers more incentives toincrease production.”

A significant part of the income generated willbe used to support market development by increas-ing the capacity and efficiency of the domesticmilling, or flour, industry. The initial focus will beon training programs and workshops to transferinformation on the latest technologies and equip-ment, to identify credit sources for upgrading orbuying equipment, to disseminate market informa-tion, and on a media campaign to promote produc-tion and consumption.

The FARMS project is a natural complementto IFDC’s agricultural development activitiesbecause the USDA FFP programs promote devel-opment of the private sector in developing coun-tries and emerging democracies, Hellums pointsout. For example, IFDC’s other activities inAfghanistan focus on helping input dealers sourcequality and competitively priced agri-inputs such

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as seeds, fertilizers, and CPPs from internationalsuppliers. These activities address the first link inthe value-added commodity chain by providingAfghan farmers with timely and affordable accessto agri-inputs. IFDC experience in the Balkans,Central Asia, and West Africa has shown thatproviding technical support simultaneously to thevarious stakeholders—input suppliers, farmers,and food processors—helps develop sustainablevalue-added commodity chains that benefit every-one, including consumers. In Afghanistan, theselinkages will be instrumental in reaching theultimate goal of increased domestic production ofstaple foods, and will provide a foundation forcontinued development.

Agricultural Marketingand Production Support

Activity in AfghanistanThe Agricultural Marketing and Production Sup-port (AMPS) activity helps the Afghanistan gov-ernment combat the cultivation of illicit crops bydistributing seed for legal crops, along with fertil-izer, throughout the country.

“We want to lessen the economic hardship thatfarmers face when they quit growing a profitable,but illegal, crop, and to encourage them fromreverting to illicit crops in the future,” says JohnAllgood, IFDC Director, Finance and Administra-tion Department.

A steering committee has been formed to assistthe provincial and district implementing partners.The committee consists of members from theMinistry of Agriculture, Animal Health, and Food(MAAHF); the Ministry of Reconstruction andRural Development (MRRD); the Ministry ofCounter-Narcotics (MoCN); the British Depart-ment for International Development (DFID);USAID’s Alternative Livelihoods implementingcontractors including Chemonics; and IFDC. Thecommittee provides guidance in beneficiaryselection and uses for collected funds, in validat-ing provincial and district implementation plans,in providing ministers with progress status, andoverseeing promotional campaigns. MAAHF tookthe lead in farmer selection, extension and train-ing, and field distribution of vouchers to farmers.The USAID-funded RAMP project oversees the

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promotional campaign, and helps the governmenthighlight “alternative livelihood” messages.RAMP also provides vouchers that farmers ex-change for seed and fertilizer, and bags that certi-fied private dealers use to divide 50-kg bags ofseed and DAP into two 25-kg portions for indi-vidual farmers.

As an implementing partner, IFDC distributesseeds, fertilizers, bags, and extension materials toprivate sector dealers at district locations. Allseeds are bought from local suppliers and, alongwith fertilizers, are distributed to the beneficiary

communities through a market friendly voucherprogram. “Technical packages” are prepared,consisting of enough seeds and fertilizers to plantone jerib (1 metric jerib equals 1 ha) of land:50 kg of urea; 25 kg of DAP; and 25 kg of wheatseeds, 300 kg of potato seeds, or 1 kg of onionseeds. The technical packages have been distrib-uted to more than 675,000 farmers in all 34 prov-inces. IFDC works with and trains private sectordealers to provide the quality of inputs necessary.

The AMPS timeframe is December 2005 toAugust 2006.

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Albania: Farmers Increase Dairy ProductionShkelqim Hallulli’s farm is located in Spitalle in the Durrës district of western Albania. Hallulli bought 10 preg-nant Holstein heifers from Germany in December 2004 through the Livestock Entrepreneurs Association ofAlbania (LEAA). He purchased them through a loan of 2 million leke (or the equivalent of $19,415.21) providedby the FFP warranty fund. All of the cows are now in lactation and he gets 250 liters of milk from them with anaverage production of 25 liters per cow per day.LEAA specialists have closely supported Hallulli in farm management, providing recommendations on barnconstruction, animal feeding, animal health, market information, etc. LEAA believes that Hallulli’s good attitudeand his willingness to apply recommendations are the key factors for his success. Hallulli accurately applies thefeeding ratio provided by the LEAA specialist and has his cows checked periodically by the local and LEAAveterinarians. He has been in negotiations with the area artificial insemination technician to inseminate his cowswith imported Holstein semen from World Wide Sires. Hallulli has kept all the calves on the farm and, unlikemany farmers, he is applying a fattening program to sell the male calves at an older age for a better price.In addition to the cows feeding ratio during lactation and dry period and the preparation of the fattening programfor calves, LEAA specialists have prepared record books to be used in this farm on: (1) milk and meat produc-tion, (2) insemination applied, and (3) offspring (male and female) record.Due to the use of a recommended feeding ratio, Hallulli improved the general health condition of his cows,increased milk production, and lowered costs. Initially, Hallulli used his own mix of 3 kg of corn, 2 kg of wheatbran, and 2 kg of soy per cow, combined with 10 kg of alfalfa grass and 5 kg of meadow grass. Based on thisratio, Hallulli used 422 leke ($4.17) per cow per day for feeding, getting an average of 20 liters of milk per cowper day, spending 21.1 leke ($0.21) for fodder per liter of milk.LEAA specialists introduced Hallulli to another feeding ratio obtained from the Aiba Company, which included7 kg of concentrate, 10 kg of alfalfa grass, and 5 kg of meadow grass. As a result of applying this ratio, averagemilk production was increased from 20 to 25 liters per cow per day, spending 17.5 leke ($0.17) on fodder perliter of milk.Considering the progress so far, LEAA believes that Hallulli will continue to be known as a progressive farmerand will expand his farm in the future.

Bari Pepa is a farmer in Sejmenas, Lushnje district, and a member of LEAA since 2001. He is currently manag-ing 30 Holstein cows imported from Germany through the association. All of the cows were purchased with hisown capital. Initially, Pepa bought 17 cows in May 2004 and then he bought 5 more cows in December 2004 andanother 8 cows in July 2005.

Production on his farm varies from 25 to 35 liters of milk per cow per day. A key factor for such results is relatedto feeding. Pepa applies all recommendations provided by the LEAA specialists in terms of feeding ratio concen-trate mix and use of supplements, health care, reproduction, and hygiene. Working with LEAA specialists, heplanned the cropping structure on his farm, considering the number of cows and their feeding needs, based oncorn for silage, alfalfa, and lolium (ryegrass). LEAA helped him to calculate the surface for each crop andassisted during corn harvesting time and prepara-tion of silage. This way Pepa managed to feedcows the proper amount (20 kg/herd) of goodquality corn silage all year round. He used the cornsilage in combination with alfalfa hay, lolium, wheatstraw, and forage beet.

He also purchases concentrated animal feed fromlocal companies and uses 6-7 kg/day as part of thefeed. Pepa is one of the leading farmers to usevitamins as supplements and also mineral blocks inthe feeding ratio. The use of Vita late and Aminovithas increased milk production on his farm. Be-cause of Pepa’s success, LEAA has used his farmas a demonstration farm to teach other farmers andtransfer technology and good management prac-tices to them.

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IFDC Helps Chicken Farmers Increase Production

The Association and Business Management Center (ABMC), and theAlbanian National Farmers Union (BKFSH), in collaboration with IFDC,introduced the use of balanced protein animal feed. This was donethrough the poultry project under the FFP program financed by USDA.The purpose was to help farmers produce more eggs and meat fromthe new hybrid chickens. The new hybrid was introduced, targeting twogoals for smallholders in two directions—200 eggs per chicken peryear and 2.0 kg and more meat per chicken. Extensive production andusage of balanced animal feed increases egg and meat production,and this is a major goal of BKFSH. The purpose was to introduce thebalanced animal feed, the new hybrid, and the appropriate technologyin chicken farm production and to help the Albanian farmers raise thenew hybrid birds in the same conditions as traditional ones in ruralareas with better results.

Experiment OverviewUsage of yellow maize and soybean meal, which contained 48% pro-tein, was introduced in chicken farm production and yielded positiveegg and meat production without biological effect for animals andhumans.

The experiment was conducted in 33 farms throughout Albania withdifferent climate and ecological conditions and differing incomes—poorvs. rich. Farmers who were very active members of BKFSH wereselected. BKFSH appropriateness is based on its structure, which isdynamic in technology transfer and data collection. The visits to everyfarm showed the progress of the experiment. Data collection diarieswith technology transfer were given to smallholders and data/study wascollected from them in each demonstration.

One of the successful farmers who profited from this experiment wasFatbardha Bejo from Memaliaj in southeast Albania. She is 42 yearsold and has a family of seven, four of whom work on the farm. The farm is operated intensively;wheat, maize, and vegetables are all produced on 1.5 ha of arable land.

Bejo was one of the first farmers to introduce balanced feed in poultry farming in her area in May2004. By using yellow maize and soybean meal—containing 48% protein—in the new hybridchickens, she was able to get results twice as fast as with traditional chickens. Because ofincreased quality meat and profits, she decided to diversify her farm operations into chicken farmproduction for the market, and she became the marketer of chickens for the whole area (market,restaurants, and hotels). Since then she has doubled her profits and is expanding her operation.She plans to increase her production by at least 3,000 chickens by the end of 2006. ABMCassisted this farmer in the startup and identification of new sources for her business.

Because of this activity, the Albanian farmer has a better understanding of small-scale livestockoperations. Knowledge of and access to improved feed formulations and improved breed genet-ics that increase meat quality and quantity in a timely and profitable manner improve the abilityto profitably produce and respond to the growing demand for quality meat.

Farmers implemented new technologies, increased interest in the agricultural sector, and gener-ated additional farm income. Thus, the encouragement to shift from subsistence operationsbased on traditional practices to more intensive regimes that utilize new technologies has beenvery effective.

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Training: It’s Integral to All of IFDC’s Overseas Projects

Training is a major part of all IFDC activities. In 2005IFDC’s overseas projects conducted 352 training eventsfor 12,372 people, of which 22% were women. IFDCprojects in West Africa provided training for 5,700 stake-holders, of which 30% were women.

Most project training is aimed at developing agriculturalinput markets by upgrading the capabilities of the dealerswho supply farmers with improved seeds, fertilizer, andother inputs. “The ultimate objective is to help smallfarmers increase productivity and income by improvingtheir access to inputs and technology,” says DanWaterman, IFDC Director of Training and Workshop Coor-dination Department. “Private sector agri-input dealerswhen provided training in technical, business, and organi-zational skills serve as very effective vehicles and multipli-ers for transferring technology to hundreds of farmerseach. Independent interviews and evaluations of ourtraining programs confirm this,” he added.

The Declaration of Africa Fertilizer Summit held in June inAbuja will inspire IFDC training programs and capacity building efforts for the rest of 2006 andbeyond. The programs will focus on ways to implement the resolutions adopted at the Summit,including opening the regional markets for more trade and harmonization.

In addition to the training of dealers and others through its field projects, IFDC conducts inter-national and regional training programs to promote best-practice use and foster interactionamong key stakeholders. During the past year these included:

• Phosphate Fertilizer Production Technology, September 26-30, Brussels, Belgium. Thistraining event for engineers conducted on behalf of IFA was the third in the series. Theprogram attracted 32 participants from 20 companies in 18 countries and involved 16 expertspeakers and over 40 presentations and two plant visits. The participants evaluated theprogram as Very Good, increased their test scores by 28%, and offered valuable commentsfor the next such training planned for 2007.

• Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE), November 14-18, inOuagadougou, Burkina Faso (conducted in French). This inaugural program developedtraining modules based on the successful and innovative CASE approach. The FASEPE,MISTOWA, and other projects in the region sponsored 18 participants. There were 13 re-source speakers from IFDC and elsewhere. The program was well received by the partici-pants and will form the basis of another program on CASE.

• Fertilizer Marketing Management, December 5-16, Bangkok, Thailand. This “standard” 2-weektraining event was updated and revised substantially. The 18 participants accorded goodmarks to the program, which was co-sponsored by the Government of Thailand Departmentof Agricultural Extension and The Soil and Fertilizer Society of Thailand. In addition to theIFDC team, there were 10 Thai expert presenters. The program included 2 days of field trips.

• The CASE training program in Ghana, April 3-7, had 23 participants, mainly sponsored by thenew Dutch-supported IFDC Thousands to Millions project in West Africa, but also includedfive participants from Kenya.

• The Sustainable Management of Agricultural Trader and Producer Organizations in Bamako,Mali, June 19-23, had 24 participants, mainly from West Africa sponsored by MISTOWA andother IFDC projects in the region.

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IFDC Hosts Eurasian Interns

Two agricultural specialists from theformer Soviet bloc of Eurasia have com-pleted 11-week internships at IFDC inMuscle Shoals. They were sponsored bythe Special American Business InternshipTraining (SABIT) program of the U.S.Department of Commerce.

Local businesses, state and governmentagencies, and civic organizations hostedthe interns.

Ainagul Nasyrova, an agronomist, headsthe Center for Agricultural Training andExtension in southern Kyrgyzstan. Shemanages a team of 26 professionals.

Bakhtier Abduvohidov is an agriculturaleconomist and agri-credit specialist fromTajikistan. He manages a micro-financeprogram for a women’s business associa-tion and has worked as a credit managerfor Mercy Corps.

“The emerging markets of the CentralAsian Republics present unique opportu-nities for U.S. companies and develop-ment organizations,” says Dan Waterman,Director of the IFDC Training and Work-shop Coordination Department. “TheSABIT program builds partnerships andprovides technical assistance by training Eurasian business leaders in U.S. businesspractices.”

Such training directly supports Eurasian economic and civil society development by encour-aging market-based reforms, while generating valuable export and investment opportunitiesfor U.S. industry.

“The interns were exposed to IFDC programs and approaches to problem solving,” Watermansays. “IFDC also gained knowledge from the interns that will help us improve and expand ourwork in Eurasia.”

Cotton is vital to the economies of both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, so Nasyrova andAbduvohidov studied how cotton is grown and processed in the United States, and visited alarge cotton farm and cotton gin. They also studied poultry, fruit, and vegetable processing.They visited a fertilizer plant, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Alabama Farm-ers Cooperative, and Alabama A&M University.

Ainagul Nasyrova (left) of Kyrgyzstan andBakhtier Abduvohidov of Tajikistan in anAlabama cotton field.

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Project Portfolio

Project Objective Collaborators Location

AMPS Voucher program to provide fertilizer and see MAAHF, MRRD, MoCN, Afghanistanpackages to resource-poor farmers to support agri-input dealersAfghanistan’s government program to combat thecultivation of illicit crops

ANMAT To promote the adoption of balanced fertilizer use NGOs, extension services Bangladesh, Nepal,and improved efficiency of fertilization in VietnamBangladesh, Nepal, and Vietnam

Uganda Agricultural To expand economic opportunities in the Ugandan Input suppliers, distributors, UgandaProductivity Enhance- agricultural sector by increasing agricultural and usersment Program (APEP) productivity and marketing of key food and cash (Chemonics)

crop systems

Batken and Sughd To improve productivity and profitability of the Agri-input dealers, Kyrgyzstan, TajikistanAgri-Input Dairy selected AgFin+ project cheese and dairy farmers, associationsDevelopment reduce rural poverty, and increase stability in the (DAI/Winrock – prime(BSAIDD) region contractors for AgFin+ project)

Cluster and Business To stimulate economic growth and improve Dealers, associations KosovoSupport in Kosovo employment opportunities for Kosovars (Chemonics)

Combating Soil To improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers TSBF-CIAT, NARES, NGOs, Sub-Saharan Africa,Fertility Decline to in sub-Saharan Africa through the promotion of a credit sources, farmer West AfricaImplement Small- holistic natural resource management (NRM) organizationsholder Agricultural approach to agricultural intensificationIntensification in Sub-Saharan Africa(CSD-ISFM)

Desert Margins To mitigate the effect of drought and to combat NARES, NGOs Sahelian countriesProject desertification in Sub-Saharan Africa decision makers,

ICRISAT

Developing ISFM To conduct a study for Darégal on improved ISFM Vegetable farmers LoméOptions for Basil for peri-urban agriculture, emphasizing basilProduction cultivation around Lomé

Development and To improve plant nutrient management in resource- National partners West AfricaDissemination of poor areas of SSA for smallholder farms TSBFISFM Practices

Cereal Production To conduct an applied research program to reduce Farmers, policymakers Morocco, SyriaInformation and farmer poverty through increased income, greater NARSDecision Support food availability, and reduced risks by improvingSystems (CPIDS) agricultural planning and decision making

East and Central On-farm evaluation of maize varieties; soil fertility NARS scientist Kenya, EthiopiaAfrica Maize and enhancement; soil moisture conservation; (CIMMYT)Wheat Network agronomic methods to control StrigaProject

Enterprise Develop- To improve agribusiness prospects in the Ferghana Agri-input dealers Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,ment Project (EDP) Valley in Central Asia (Pragma) Uzbekistan

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Farmers for the Future To develop and introduce integrated soil fertility Farmers, NGOs West Africain West Africa management packages aimed at intensifying

agricultural production by small farmers

FASEPE Project To promote sustainable agricultural production and Farmer-based organizations, West Africamarket development by improving necessary public and private sectorsocio-economic and policy conditions

Food for Progress To support private sector development of agri- Agricultural input dealers AlbaniaProgram (FFP) business enterprises engaged in feed milling, meat, USDA, AAATA, and banks

dairy, and egg production by providing technicalassistance and linkages to world market sourcesand by promoting market development programs

ISFM Technical Introduce integrated soil fertility management NARS and national NGOs West AfricaAssistance (Projet de options in large investment projects in Burkina FasoDeveloppement Ruraldu Sud-Ouest (PDRSO)

KAED To support the development of agro-input dealers Agro-input dealers, decision Kyrgyz Republicand increase agricultural production through makersuse of improved technologies

Mali Agricultural Increase agricultural productivity (irrigated Farmers, input dealers MaliProduction Initiative agriculture, access to improved animal feeds, (CLUSA)(MAPI/PRODEPAM) natural resources and environment, increased

availability to inputs and technologies)

MARKETS To increase agricultural productivity, enhance Producers, importers and Nigeriavalue-added processing, and increase commer- wholesale/retail agro dealers,cialization through private sector-led and market- farmersdriven growth and development (Chemonics)

Romania Agribusiness To develop competitive agribusiness clusters and Dealers RomaniaDevelopment Program promote policy reform to increase agribusiness (Chemonics)

prosperity

Strengthening Net- To improve the collection and dissemination of Several West African regional West Africaworks of Regional market information and traders’ organization organizationsMISTOWA networks Agriterra, Geekcorps

Livestock Development To enhance crop and animal production through NARES, NGOs in Soum Province,Project in the Soum integrated soil fertility management Burkina Faso Burkina FasoProvince (PDESProject)

MIR To strengthen the private sector and create a UEMOA, ECOWAS, ROPPA, Burkina Faso, Benin,regional market in West Africa RECAO, CMA/WCA, private Ghana, Mali, Nigeria,

input importers and dealers, TogoSector Ministries

RAMP To provide agricultural dealer development Chemonics, agricultural Afghanistanexpertise in a project designed to rebuild the inputs dealersagricultural markets of Afghanistan

Project Objective Collaborators Location

Project Portfolio(continued)

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Project Objective Collaborators Location

Project Portfolio(continued)

SAADA Three-pronged approach to transform rural AISSA Network, producer Sub-Saharan Africalivelihoods to increase economic growth, organizationsagricultural productivity, and provide special focuson women and trade capacity building

Southeast Climate To develop a climate information and decision Florida State University, U.S.A.Consortium Project support system for the Southeastern U.S.A. that University of Florida,

will contribute to an improved quality of life, University of Miami,increased profitability, decreased economic risks, University of Georgia, Auburnand more ecologically sustainable management University, University ofof agriculture, forestry, and water resources. Alabama-Huntsville

Technical Back- To facilitate sustainable agricultural intensification Farmers Burkina Fasostopping for IFAD and improve crop-livestock interactionsand AfricanDevelopment BankInvestment Projectsin Burkina Faso

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Publications, 2005/06

FSR-2 Asia Fertilizer Situation.FSR-5 North America Fertilizer Capacity.FSR-7 Worldwide Urea Capacity Listing by Plant.FSR-8 Worldwide DAP and MAP Capacity Listing by Plant.FSR-9 Worldwide Potash Capacity Listing by Plant.FSR-10 Worldwide Ammonia Capacity Listing by Plant.FSR-14 Worldwide Ammonium Nitrate and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate Capacity Listing by Plant.FSR-22 Worldwide NPK Capacity Listing by Plant.FSR-23 Worldwide Phosphoric Acid Capacity Listing by Plant.G 1 IFDC Publications Catalog.P-34 Restoring Kosovo’s Agriculture Sector After Conflict—IFDC’s Involvement.P-35 An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Tanzania.P-36 An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Zambia.P-37 Subvention des intrants et développement de l’agriculture – Questions et options pour les économies des

pays en développement et en transition (French version of P-29 – Input Subsidies and Agricultural Devel-opment: Issues and Options for Developing and Transitional Economies).

R-15 Fertilizer Dealer Handbook: Products, Storage, and Handling.S-28 IFDC Corporate Report 2004/2005.T-71 Development and Dissemination of Sustainable Integrated Soil Fertility Management Practices for Small-

holder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.T-72 Agricultural Production and Soil Nutrient Mining in Africa: Implications for Resource Conservation and

Policy Development.

Bationo, A., A. Hartemink, L. Obed, N. Mustapha, O. Peter, E. Smaling, and T. Lamourdia. 2006. “African Soils:Their Productivity and Profitability of Fertilizer Use.” Background Paper prepared for the Africa Fertilizer Sum-mit, June 9–13, 2006, Abuja, Nigeria.

Bowen, W. T., R. B. Diamond, U. Singh, and T. P. Thompson. 2005. “Urea Deep Placement Increases Yield andSaves Nitrogen Fertilizer in Farmers’ Fields in Bangladesh,” IN Rice is Life: Scientific Perspectives for the 21stCentury, K. Toriyama, K. L. Heong, and B. Hardy (Eds.), pp. 369–372, Proceedings of the World Rice ResearchConference held in Tokyo and Tsukuba, Japan, 4–7 November 2004, Los Baños (Philippines): International RiceResearch Institute, and Tsukuba (Japan): Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences. CD.

Bowen, W. T., R. B. Diamond, U. Singh, and T. P. Thompson. 2005. “Farmer and Environmental Benefits DerivedFrom Deep Placement of Urea Briquettes for Flooded Rice in Bangladesh,” IN Third International NitrogenConference, Contributed Papers, Zhaoliang Zhu, Katsu Minami, and James Galloway (Eds.), pp. 71–76, Instituteof Soil Science, Nanjing, China, October 12-16, 2004, Science Press USA Inc., Monmouth Junction, NJ.

Camara, O., and E. Heinemann. 2006. “Overview of the Fertilizer Situation in Africa.” Background Paper preparedfor the Africa Fertilizer Summit, June 9–13, 2006, Abuja, Nigeria.

Camara, O., A. H. Roy, and D. I. Gregory. 2006. “Meeting Africa’s Fertilizer Challenge: Agenda for Action.” Paperpresented at the Arab Fertilizer Association 12th International Annual Fertilizer Conference, February 2006,Cairo, Egypt.

Eilittä, M. 2006. “Achieving an African Green Revolution: A Vision for Sustainable Agricultural Growth in Africa.”Background Paper prepared for the Africa Fertilizer Summit, June 9–13, 2006, Abuja, Nigeria.

Govere, E. M., S. H. Chien, and R. H. Fox. 2004. “Evaluation of Dissolution of Nonconventional Phosphate Fertil-izers in Zimbabwe Soils: Effects of Soil Properties,” African Journal of Science and Technology, 5:73–82.

Govere, E. M., S. H. Chien, and R. H. Fox. 2005. “An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Nonconventional Phos-phate Fertilizers Derived from Zimbabwe Phosphate Rock Using Ryegrass as a Test Crop,” African Journal ofScience and Technology, 6:15–26.

Gregory, D. I. 2006. “The Role of Input Vouchers in Pro-Poor Growth.” Background Paper prepared for the AfricaFertilizer Summit, June 9–13, 2006, Abuja, Nigeria.

72

Publications, 2005/06(Continued)

Gregory, D. I., and B. L. Bumb. 2006. Factors Affecting Supply of Fertilizer in Sub-Saharan Africa, Agriculture andRural Development Discussion Paper 24, World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Groot, J.J.R. 2006. “Advancing Fertilizer Use and Marketing in Africa,” Fertilizers & Agriculture, May 2006, pp. 2–3.

Groot, J.J.R. 2006. “Improving the Fertilizer Link in the Agricultural Value Chain,” Fertilizers & Agriculture, May2006, pp. 3–4.

Groot, J.J.R., and K. Adodo. 2006. “IFDC; Addressing the Challenges of Agriculture in Africa,” Fertilizer Focus,May/June 2006, pp. 10–13.

Mando, A., B. Ouattara, A. E. Somado, M.C.S. Wopereis, L. Stroosnijder, and H. Breman. 2005. “Long-Term Ef-fects of Fallow, Tillage and Manure Application on Soil Organic Matter and Nitrogen Fractions and on SorghumYield Under Sudano-Sahelian Conditions,” Soil Use and Management, 21:25–31. (Listed in the 2004/2005 Cor-porate Report.)

Mando, A., B. Ouattara, M. Sédogo, L. Stroosnijder, K. Ouattara, L. Brussaard, and B. Vanlauwe. 2005. “Long-TermEffect of Tillage and Manure Application on Soil Organic Fractions and Crop Performance Under Sudano-SahelianConditions,” Soil & Tillage Research, 80:95–101. (Listed in the 2004/2005 Corporate Report.)

Mando, A., D. Fatondji, R. Zougmore, L. Brussaard, C. Bielders, and C. Martius. 2006. “Restoring Soil Fertility inSemi-Arid West Africa: Assessment of an Indigenous Technology,” IN Biological Approaches for SustainableSoil Systems, N. Uphoff et al. (Eds.), pp. 391-399, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL.

Mando, A., M. Bonzi, M.C.S. Wopereis, F. Lompo, B. Fofana, B. Vanlauwe, L. Stroosnijder, and H. Breman. 2005.“Long-Term Effects of Mineral and Organic Fertilization on Soil Organic Matter Fractions, Sorghum Yield andFertilizer-N Recovery Under Sudano-Sahelian Conditions,” Soil Use Manage., 23:40–51.

Oberson, A., E. K. Bünemann, D. K. Friesen, I. M. Rao, P. C. Smithson, B. L. Turner, and E. Frossard. 2006.“Improving Phosphorus Fertility in Tropical Soils through Biological Interventions,” IN Biological Approachesto Sustainable Soil Systems, Books in Soils, Plants, and the Environment Vol. 113, N. Uphoff et al. (Eds.), pp.531–546, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL.

Ouédraogo, E., L. Brussaard, A. Mando, and L. Stroosnijder. 2005. “Organic Resources and Earthworms AffectPhosphorus Availability to Sorghum After Phosphate Rock Addition in Semi-Arid West Africa, Biol. Fertil. Soils,41:458–465.

Ouédraogo, E., A. Mando, and L. Brussaard. 2006. “Soil Fauna Impacts on Soil Physical Properties” IN BiologicalApproaches to Sustainable Soil Systems, N. Uphoff et al. (Eds.), pp. 163–175, CRC Press, Taylor & FrancisGroup, Boca Raton, FL.

Polo, J. R., and K. Oomen. 2005. “Nigeria’s Ammonia/Urea Plant,” FINDS, First Quarter 2005. (Listed in the 2004/2005 Corporate Report.)

Segda, Z., S. M. Haefele, M.C.S. Wopereis, M. P. Sedogo, and S. Guinko. 2005. “Combining Field and SimulationStudies to Improve Fertilizer Recommendations for Irrigated Rice in Burkina Faso,” Agronomy Journal, 97:1429–1437.

Singh, U. 2005. “Book Reviews/Nutrients on the Move: Soil Fertility Dynamics in African Farming Systems,” INThea Hillhorst, Fred Muchena (Eds.) / Agricultural Systems, 85:202–207.

Smalberger, S. A., U. Singh, S. H. Chien, J. Henao, and P. W. Wilkens. 2006. “Development and Validation of aPhosphate Rock Decision Support System,” Agronomy Journal, 98:471–483.

Smaling, E., M. Toure, N. de Ridder, N. Sanginga, and H. Breman. 2006. “Fertilizer Use and the Environment inAfrica: Friends or Foes?” Background Paper prepared for the Africa Fertilizer Summit, June 9–13, 2006, Abuja,Nigeria.

Stewart, W. M., L. L. Hammond, and S. J. Van Kauwenbergh. 2005. “Phosphorus as a Natural Resource,” IN Phos-phorus: Agriculture and the Environment, Agronomy Monograph No. 46, pp.3–22, ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison,WI.

Wopereis, M.C.S., A. Tamelokpo, K. S. Ezui, D. Gnakpénou, B. Fofana, and H. Breman. 2006. “Mineral FertilizerManagement of Maize on Farmer Fields Differing in Organic Inputs in the West African Savanna,” Field CropsResearch, 96:355–362.

73

Balance Sheet

For the year ended December 31, 2005

US $’000

Assets:Cash and cash equivalents 4,423Restricted cash 3,824Contributions receivable 914Contracts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 3,364Other receivables 257Supplies inventory 110Prepaid expenses 139

Total current assets 13,031

Buildings and equipment, net 591Contributions receivable, noncurrent

Total assets 13,622

Liability and Net Assets:Accounts payable 2,435Accrued annual and sick leave 705Deferred revenue 3,994Other liabilities 3,956

Total current liabilities 11,090

Unrestricted net assets 2,524Permanently restricted net assets 8

Total liabilities and net assets 13,622

Statement of Revenue and Expenses

For the year ended December 31, 2005

US $’000

Revenue and Support:Chemonics International Inc. 1,445Department for International Development 2,707Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. 318International Fertilizer Industry Association 216International Fund for Agricultural Development 788National Cooperative Business Association 327Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation (DGIS) 2,849The Fertilizer Institute 128U.S. Agency for International Development 28,782U.S. Department of Agriculture 304Winrock International 310Training Programs 184Others 2,148

Total revenues and support 40,506

Expenses:Field programs 7,623Research 2,710Market development 27,959Support activities 2,681

Total expenses 40,973

Decrease in unrestricted net assets (467)

The following is a summary of financial information for the year ended December 31, 2005. The full financialstatements and the independent auditors’ reports are available from IFDC upon request.

Financial Highlights

74

Abonos Colombianos, S.A. (ABOCOL)African Development Bank (AfDB)AgriterraApplied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA)Arab Fertilizer Association (AFA)CARE InternationalInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)Chemical Biosolids, LLCChemical Industries of Senegal (ICS)Chemonics International Inc.Cornell UniversityDepartment for International Development (DFID)Dutch Foundation for Scientific Research in the Tropics (WOTRO)El Dorado Chemical CompanyForum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) – Sub-Sahara Africa Challenge ProgramGeorgia Pacific Resins Inc.Global Environmental FacilityGovernment of Burkina FasoIndian Farmers’ Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO)Indo-Jordan Chemicals Company Ltd.Institute of International Education (IIE)International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA)International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA)Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals LimitedNetherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation (DGIS)Notore Chemical IndustriesPetroquimica de Venezuela S.A. (PEQUIVEN)Rockefeller FoundationSasakawa-Global 2000Shell Canada LimitedSwiss Cooperation Bureau (Burkina Faso)Syngenta Agro AGTata Chemicals LimitedThe Fertilizer Institute (TFI)United States Agency for International Development (USAID)United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)University of GeorgiaU.S. Borax, Inc.Winrock International

Revenue Sources(as of June 30, 2006)

75

U.S.A.IFDC HeadquartersP.O. Box 2040Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35662U.S.A.Telephone: +1 (256) 381 6600Telefax: +1 (256) 381 7408E-Mail: general@ifdc.org

Staff

Office of the PresidentAmitava H. Roy, President and Chief Executive OfficerFelicia N. Andrews, Africa Fertilizer Summit Facilitator –NEPAD

Oumou M. Camara, Africa Fertilizer Summit Coordinator –Headquarters3

Donald R. Crane, Jr., Development Officer – Washington, DCDavid Gisselquist, Africa Fertilizer Summit – Author forBackground Paper

Alicia K. Hall, Senior SecretaryCharles Mataya, Africa Fertilizer Summit – Author forBackground Paper

Debra E. Rutland, Executive SecretaryEric Smaling, Africa Fertilizer Summit – Author for BackgroundPaper

Dennis Wichelns, Africa Fertilizer Summit – Author forBackground Paper

Information and Communications UnitThomas R. Hargrove, Interim Coordinator3

Marie K. Thompson, Coordinator2

Alicia V. Polo, Spanish/English Translation and Editing3

Jean S. Riley, Senior LibrarianElizabeth N. Roth, Editor3

Lisa L. Thigpen, Editor

Finance and Administration DepartmentJohn H. Allgood, DirectorKaye F. Barker, Senior Budget/Procurement OfficerCharles E. Butler, Technician – Maintenance ServicesGlenda T. Carter, Senior Clerk – Accounting23

Doyce E. Couch, Coordinator – Maintenance ServicesC. David Edwards, Senior Personnel OfficerRonnie L. Faires, Purchasing OfficerJanice C. Gautney, Senior Word ProcessorJane L. Goss, Senior Word ProcessorAmber N. Hammock, Senior Secretary/Associate PersonnelOfficer

Regina S. Harris, AccountantBrenda G. Peden, ReceptionistWendell C. Rhodes, Senior Technician – Maintenance ServicesJuanita L. Schultz, AccountantDebra S. Shedd, Supervisor – Accounting ServicesCarol S. Slaton, Senior Word ProcessorJoy M. Thompson, Senior Accountant

Michael O. Thompson, Senior Visitor Relations OfficerDonna W. Venable, Senior Word Processor/Graphics IllustratorXia Wan, Coordinator – Computer ServicesDavid B. Wright, Senior TechnicianLynda F. Young, Coordinator – Word Processing/Graphics

Research and Market Development DivisionThomas W. Crawford, Jr., DirectorE. Rick Austin, Coordinator – Analytical ServicesCarlos A. Baanante, Economist3

M. Feisal Beig, Senior Specialist – Marketing2

Simane Belay, Seed Specialist – Mozambique3

Janice T. Berry, Coordinator – Market Information UnitWendie D. Bible, Analyst – LaboratoryBobby W. Biggers, Senior Technician – Pilot Plant Services/Physical Properties

Robert C. Bosheers, Coordinator – Greenhouse and Pilot PlantServices

W. Curtis Brummitt, Agribusiness Specialist3

Balu L. Bumb, Program Leader and Principal Scientist – Policy,Trade, and Markets Program

Celia J. Calvo, Senior Analyst – LaboratorySen H. Chien, Principal Scientist – Soil ChemistryLuisa M. De Faría, Specialist – EngineeringHiqmet Demiri, Specialist – AgribusinessMarjatta Eilittä, Senior Scientist – Agronomy3

Elijah G. Evans, Associate GIS SpecialistThomas E. Evers, Senior Technician – Pilot Plant ServicesEros A.B. Francisco, Visiting Scientist – Phosphorus Program1

David B. Gooch, Technician – Production ServicesWilliam M. Goss, Technician – Production ServicesD. Ian Gregory, Agribusiness Specialist23

Deborah T. Hellums, Coordinator – Field ProjectsJulio Henao, Senior Scientist – BiometricsVaughn K. Henry, Senior Technician – Greenhouse ServicesVickie J. Hollandsworth, SecretaryR. Gary Howard, Senior Analyst – LaboratorySuzanne R. Hunter, Industrial Chemistry/Microscopy Specialist3

Deborah B. King, Senior SecretaryAmanda C. Lambert, Analyst – Laboratory1

Brett A. Lansdell, Technician – Production Services1

J. Ramón Lazo de la Vega, Senior Specialist – EngineeringPaul K. Makepeace, Marketing Specialist – India3

Benjamin C. Malone, Jr., Senior Analyst – Laboratory4

Fred M. Muhhuku, Seed Specialist – Zambia3

Jorge R. Polo, Senior Technical SpecialistNancy B. Potter, Senior Secretary2

Henry Russaw, Jr., Technician – Production ServicesDavid W. Rutland, Senior Specialist – Fertilizer TechnologyDavid W. Shook, Technician – Production Services1

Upendra Singh, Senior Scientist – Systems Modeling (Soil Fertility)Suzette A. Smalberger, Associate Expert Soil-System Modeler –Phosphorus Dynamics1

G. Ronald Smith, Senior Technician – Greenhouse ServicesGordon K. Studebaker, Association Strengthening/BusinessDevelopment Specialist – Romania3

David L. Terry, Fertilizer Regulatory Specialist3

Global Offices and Staff(as of June 30, 2006)

76

Thomas P. Thompson, Senior Scientist – SociologySteven J. Van Kauwenbergh, Program Leader – FertilizerMaterials Program

Linda D. Walsh, Specialist – Data ManagementDonald R. Waggoner, Ammonia/Urea Production Specialist andTechnical Editor3

Maria N. Wanzala, Scientist – EconomicsPaul W. Wilkens, Scientist – Programmer

Training and Workshop Coordination DepartmentDaniel F. Waterman, DirectorDaris H. Belew, Senior Secretary2

M. Patricia Stowe, Senior Secretary

AfricaIFDC Africa DivisionB.P. 4483LoméTOGOTelephone: (228) 221 79 71Telefax: (228) 221 78 17E-Mail: ifdctogo@ifdc.org

StaffJ.J. Robert Groot, DirectorAbdoulaye Mando, Program Leader, Natural ResourcesManagement

Tchilalou E. Abissi, Assistant SecretaryKossi Agnitoufeyi Adakoum, Computer-Aided Designer, DesktopPublisher1

Ketline M. Adodo, Coordinator, Information and CommunicationUnit

Messan Agbedinou, DriverKwame Senyo Agbotame, Administrative AssistantTchamssi Witta Alassane, Janitor1

Kouassi Amegnido, DriverKokou Ankou, Agronomist, Secretary and Research AssistantKossi E. Apedo, Driver1

Ayayi Apedo-Amah, LibrarianYawa Eméfa Atri, Director’s SecretaryFogan Ayikpe-Konou, DriverKomi Kadé Azorbly, Electrician/Maintenance Technician2

Assani Bello Lawani, Administrator – Head of PersonnelDodzi Biakou, Janitor/ReceptionistSaliou Mamadou Camara-Boubacar, Janitor1

Kokou Combey, Assistant Electrician1

Constant Dangbégnon, Socio-Economist, Extension Specialist –NRM

Dodji Dovi, Gender Specialist Regional – MISTOWAKodjovi Séna Ezui, Agronomist – Secretary/Research AssistantYawovi Fianyo, Mechanic1

N’Taré Kokouvi Gaglo, Computer MaintenanceKokou Gayi, Assistant AccountantAmatevi R. Klutse, Project Coordinator – MISTOWA, Togo

Kodjo Kondo, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist – SAADAMatièyèdou Konlambigue, Credit Specialist – SAADAKossivi Koukoudé, Field TechnicianKossi Kounoudji, Driver1

Adjowa Lassou, Coordinator, Administration and Finance UnitSibi Egnonam Lawson, Secretary1

Udo Rudiger, Expert on secondment, DEDAdonko Tamelokpo, Scientist – AgronomyAdotè A. Tounou-Akué, Network AdministratorAmivi M. Tsikplonou, Assistant Librarian

IFDC/Benin10 BP 1200 - CotonouBENINTelephone: (229) 30 59 90 or

(229) 30 59 91E-Mail: ifdcbenin@ifdc.org

StaffComlan Grégoire Houngnibo, Cotton Local Expert, IFDCRepresentative in Benin

Virgile Adigbe, Office Cleaner, Cotonou OfficeEnock Marie Ulrich Agbidinoukoun, Accountant – MISTOWAIrma Cledjo, Assistant Commercial Organization – MISTOWAKokou Koumagli Djagni, Cluster Advisor/Coordinator SAADACase

M. Nicaise Dossouhoui, Driver – MIRMarie Angèle C. Katary, Coordinator, Administration andFinance – MIR

Sabai Kate, Specialist in Cotton/Assistant Coordinator SAADACase

Michel Kpodanhoue, Driver – MISTOWAEdi Kpogan, Gender Specialist/VIH-SIDA and AssistantCoordinator SAADA Case

Bruno Ouedraogo, Cotton Input Marketing Expert – MIRWanga Sannou, Office Cleaner, Banikoara OfficeAlain Soglo, Project Coordinator – MISTOWA

IFDC/Burkina Faso11 BP 82Ouagadougou 11BURKINA FASOTelephone: (226) 50 37 45 03 or 05Telefax: (226) 50 37 49 69E-Mail: ifdcburkina@ifdc.org

StaffWillem A.M. van Campen, Project Coordinator – MIR, IFDCRepresentative in Burkina Faso

Sylvain Roy, Project Coordinator – MIR, IFDC Representative inBurkina Faso 1

Georges Dimithè, Policy Economist Expert – MIRRaphaël Vogelsperger, Agri-Inputs Marketing Expert – MIRBidjokazo Fofana, NRMP projects Coordinator in BF – NRMP

Global Offices and Staff (continued)(as of June 30, 2006)

77

Ablassé Serge Barry, Driver – 1000+Isabelle Adzoh-Freitas, Coordinator of Administration &Finance – MIR

Dominique Bassole, Marketing Specialist – PRECAIAMawintome Bienvenu Francis Dabiré, Communication Expert, –MIR

Asseta Diallo, Cluster Advisor – 1000+Koffivi Gnakpenou, Extension Agronomist – NRMPMarie Laurentine Ilboubo, Institutional Development Specialist,Farmer-Based Organizations in Burkina Faso – MISTOWA

Gustave Kabore, Driver – MIRMoussa Kabore, Marketing Specialist – PADL/CLKSalif Kiedrebeogo, Driver/Logistician – MIRLamine Konfe, Field Technician – PDRDP/BKRufine Meda, Secretary-Accountant/Receptionist – MIR/PRECAIA

Jerome Nassa, Janitor – MIRBoukari Nebie, Driver – MIRAbel Nikiema, Driver – MISTOWAPalobde E. Nonguierma, Accountant – MIR/MISTOWA/PRECAIA

Charles Nouatin, Regional APO Advisor – MISTOWARoseline Didier Sanon, Bilingual Secretary – MIRSoungalo Sanon, Rice Agronomist – PADL/CLKOusmane Tamboura, Agricultural Observer1

Bonaventure Y. Tapsoba, Driver – DMPSami Firmin Traore, National Coordinator – MISTOWASansanYoul, System Agronomist – DMPZacharie Zida, PhD Student – WOTTRO

IFDC/EthiopiaILRI/CIMMYTAttention: Dennis K. FriesenILRI Sholla CampusP.O. Box 5689Addis AbabaETHIOPIATelephone: (251) 11 646 23 24/26/27Telefax: (251) 11 646 1252E-Mail: ifdcethiopia@ifdc.org

StaffDennis K. Friesen, Regional Maize Systems Specialist for EastAfrica

IFDC/GhanaP.O. Box 16303, Orphan CrescentLabone, AccraGHANATelephone: (233) 21 78 08 30Telefax: (233) 21 78 08 29E-Mail: ifdcghana@ifdc.org

StaffS. Kofi Debrah, Chief of Party – MISTOWAPatrice H.P. Annequin, Deputy Chief of Party and MIS UnitManager – MISTOWA

Manon M. Dohmen, Expert – Institutional Development andOrganizational Strengthening

Raymond E. Grant, Business and Trade Advisor – MISTOWA 1

Claudia S. LaLumia, Business and Trade Advisor – MISTOWAHarrison Abu, Data Entry Personnel – MISTOWA3

Frank Acquah, Gardener – MISTOWA3

Osei Tutu Agyeman, MIS Technical Assistant – MISTOWAEmmanuel Kodjo Mawuli Alognikou, Training Coordinator andAdvisor – MISTOWA

Christian Yao Amedo, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist –MISTOWA

Emmanuel Asiamah, Driver – MISTOWAYayra Kofi Bansah, Accounts Officer – MISTOWAProsper Komla Bissi, Evaluation Specialist/Data Analyst –MISTOWA3

Yachina Dété, Website and Database Manager – MISTOWARegine Dupuy, Communication/PRO – MISTOWA3

Fidelia Latzoo, Janitor – MISTOWA3

Joël Mafoya Dossoumon, Web Editor – MISTOWAJeffrey Edue, Driver – MISTOWAEunice Ekor, Janitor/Office Assistant – MISTOWASamuel Insaidu, Driver – MISTOWA/MIRFlorence Esi Jonfiah, Senior Secretary – MISTOWAVictoire Adjua Kpadjouda, Administrative and Finance Officer –MISTOWA

Evado Adjele Mensah, Receptionist/Office Assistant –MISTOWA

Mark Owusuansah, National Expert – MIR/MISTOWA1

Adam Tampuri, Accountant – MISTOWAMusa S. Taylor, Business and Trade Assistant/Field Coordinator –MISTOWA

Wisdom Tenge, Translator – UnIC (Lomé)/MISTOWA

IFDC/Malawi(Office closed June 20, 2006)

StaffLawrence L. Hammond, Chief of Party – MAIMD

IFDC/MaliB.P.E. 103 ACI 2000Hamdallaye, BamakoMALITelephone: (223) 490 01 22/05 61/05 62Telefax: (223) 490 01 21E-Mail: ifdcmali@ifdc.org

Global Offices and Staff (continued)(as of June 30, 2006)

78

StaffArnoldus J. Maatman, Chief of Party – SAADA, IFDCRepresentative in Mali

Joël Le Turioner, Cotton Inputs Market Expert/IFDCRepresentative in Mali – MIR1

Christian Gaborel, Cotton Agronomist – MIRNéné Fatoumata Diakité, Coordinator, Administration andFinance – MIR/MISTOWA/SAADA

Issa Diarra, Driver – MIRBlaise Fadoegnon, Cotton Agronomist – MIRAmadou Gakou, Soil Fertility Initiative Activity Coordinator –DERK

Coumba Yaye Keita, Secretary/Receptionist – MIRFatoumata Keita, Research Assistant – SAADANouhoun Keita, Driver – MIR5

Seydou Keita, Janitor – MIR/MISTOWA/SAADAAlassane Samake, Driver – MIR/SAADASory Soubatran, Driver – SAADABlondine Toure, Janitor – MIR/SAADAIbrahima Touré, Coordinator – MISTOWASy Alain Traoré, Agricultural Inputs Marketing Specialist

IFDC/MoroccoInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)Centre Régional de la Recherche AgronomiqueB.P. 589, 26000 SettatMOROCCOTelephone: (212) 23 40 26 80Telephone/Telefax: (212) 23 40 27 56E-Mail: ifdcmorocco@ifdc.org

StaffMustapha Naimi, Agricultural Systems Modeler, Chief of PartySalima Bentama, Programmer and GIS SpecialistAmal Labaioui, Assistant in Soil Science and Agronomy

IFDC/Mozambique(Contact information was not available at the time of printing;

check the IFDC website for the contact information).

StaffLawrence L. Hammond, Chief of Party/Marketing Specialist –

AIMS

IFDC/NigeriaP.O. Box 10948 GarkiAbujaNIGERIATelephone: (234) 94 13 08 74 or 94 13 08 73Telefax: (234) 94 13 00 37E-Mail: ifdcnigeria@ifdc.org

StaffClaude C. Freeman III, Agricultural Input Marketing Advisor –MARKETS

Scott J. Wallace, Project Coordinator – MIR and IFDCRepresentative in Nigeria

David Adamu, Driver – MIRBola Ajadi, Input Specialist – MARKETSGafar Ajao, Market ICT Center Manager – MISTOWAMichael Akwu, Administration/AccountantUmaru A. Alkaleri, IFDC Liaison Officer – African FertilizerSummit3

Adedayo Ayeni, Project Assistant and Secretary – MIRGbolagade Ayoola, National Expert – MIREssien Henry Ekpiken, Project Coordinator – MISTOWABlessing Ihediwa, Project Technical Assistant – MISTOWARichard Kachikwu, Personal Assistant – African FertilizerSummit3

Kola Kuku, TO & PO Coordinator – MISTOWAFatimata Mohammed, Production & Trade OrganizationCoordinator – MISTOWA

Bala Afiku Namo, Driver – MISTOWAEvelyn E. Okwudolor, Secretary – African Fertilizer Summit3

Ibrahim Suleiman – Input Specialist – MARKETS

IFDC/SenegalAvenue Cheikh Anta DiopDakarSENEGALTel / fax: (221) 864 08 38

StaffSadibou Gueye, Field Coordinator – MISTOWA (Senegal)Magatte Gueye Ba, Administrative Assistant – MISTOWA(Senegal)

AsiaIFDC/AfghanistanAgri-Input Dealer Training and Development Project (AIDTDP)House No: 133, St. No: 1Part II, Karte ParwanKabulAFGHANISTANTelephone: (93) 779 565 876E-Mail: ifdcafghanistan@ifdc.org

StaffVas D. Aggarwal, In-Country Project Manager – AMPS3

Har Bhajan Singh, Chief of Party – Dealer Development – RAMPGerald W. Turnbull, Chief of Party – Dealer Development –RAMP1

Robert S. Adams, Distribution – Logistics Specialist3

Ray B. Diamond – Technical and Logistics Specialist, AMPS3

Global Offices and Staff (continued)(as of June 30, 2006)

79

Naseer Ahmad Ahmadi, Assistant Admin. OfficerFarid Ahmed Ebrahim, Assistant Admin. and IT OfficerNajibullah Enayat, Training CoordinatorHasamuddin Hashimi, Senior AgronomistAbdul Jameel, District Dealer Dev. Coordinator – HKAbdul Khabir Kakar, AccountantMohd. Kareem Kashmiri, Senior Training CoordinatorWali Mohammad, District Dealer Dev. Coordinator – HKMohd. Asif Noorzai, District Dealer Dev. Coordinator – HKRahimullah Noorzay, District Dealer Dev. Coordinator – HKSaeed Habib U Rahman, Regional CoordinatorMohammady Salik, Regional CoordinatorGhulam Hazrat Samim, Regional CoordinatorSharafuddin Sharaf, Regional CoordinatorJames R. Stanelle, Distribution – Logistics Specialist3

Richard L. Tinsley, Distribution – Logistics Specialist3

Ruhullah Yaqini, Regional Coordinator

IFDC Asia DivisionRoad 54A, House #2, Apt #6Gulshan 2Dhaka 1212BANGLADESHTelephone: (880) 2 882 6109Telefax: (880) 2 881 7617E-Mail: ifdcbangladesh@ifdc.org

StaffWalter T. Bowen, Resident Project Coordinator – ANMAT IICraig A. Meisner, Senior Scientist – Agronomy1

Khondoker Makbul Elahi, Field CoordinatorSyed Afzal Mahmood Hossain, Data Management SpecialistMd. Mofizul Islam, Agricultural SpecialistIshrat Jahan, Economist3

Hussein Rahman, Project Evaluation Specialist3

EuropeIFDC/AlbaniaRruga “Mine Peza”Pallati 87/3, Shkalla 2, Kati 1TiranaALBANIATelephone/Fax: (355) 4 259 195E-Mail: ifdcalbania@ifdc.org

StaffYlli Biçoku, Credit Enhancement Fund Project Manager3

Teodor Gadeshi, Credit Enhancement Fund Finance Manager3

Ekeleda Frasheri, Project Accountant

IFDC/BelgiumDr. Henk BremanResident Representative and Principal Scientistc/o Africa MuseumLeuvensesteenweg 173080 TervurenBELGIUMTelephone: (32) 2 769 56 07Telefax: (32) 2 769 56 42E-Mail: ifdcbelgium@ifdc.org

StaffHendrik Breman, Resident Representative and Principal ScientistGelson Tembo, Agricultural Economist – GART, Zambia

IFDC/KosovoStr. 24 Magi No. 116PristinaKOSOVOTelephone: (381) 38 243 361Telefax: (381) 38 243 365E-Mail: ifdckosovo@ifdc.org

StaffMentor Thaqi, Project Coordinator – KFPPBurbuqe Avdiu, Office Cleaner – KFPP1

Kimete Isufi, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist – KFPP1

Milazim Makolli, Extension Specialist Manager – KFPP1

Musli Musliu, Extension Field Demonstration Assistant – KFPP1

Naim Raci, Driver – KFPP1

Ganimete Salihu, Office Manager/Accountant – KFPP1

Nazmije Salihu, Office Cleaner1

Gregory M. Sullivan, Sheep Industry Marketing Specialist3

Afrim Vitia, Driver – KFPP1

Bekë Zahiti, Milling and Poultry Specialist – KFPP1

Eurasia

IFDC/Kyrgyz Republic323 Lenin Street, 2nd FloorOsh 724000KYRGYZ REPUBLICTelephone: (996) 3222 55394Telefax: (996) 3222 71722E-Mail: ifdckyrgyzstan@ifdc.org

StaffEddie A. Beaman, Chief of Party – KAEDDilshod Abdulhamidov, Associate Expert Agricultural Economist1

Ubaidulla Abdullaev, Agronomy Department Specialist Assistant

Global Offices and Staff (continued)(as of June 30, 2006)

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1. Left during 2005/06.2. Retired during 2005/06.3. Short-term staff, 2005/06.4. On extended leave.5. Deceased, 2005/06.6. Student Attachment.

Stavros Androulidakis, Extension Services and CommunicationsSpecialist3

Nodir Sh. Badalov, Association Development DepartmentSpecialist1

Mansur R. Baratov, Association Development DepartmentSpecialist

Dalil T. Batyrov, Cleaning PersonTritan Cako, Association and Business Development Specialist3

Guljamal N. Chokmorova, Office Manager/Media and PublicRelations Specialist

Zafar Halibaev, Association Development SpecialistRoza K. Jusubalieva, Business Development DepartmentSpecialist

Alisher L. Kasymov, Business Development DepartmentSpecialist Assistant

Jyrgal S. Musaev, Agronomy Department SpecialistShavkat Rasulov, DriverVera Simonenko, Office and COP SupportAziza U. Yuldasheva, General Manager

IFDC/TajikistanLenin St. 7, Apartment/Office #23Khujand 735700TAJIKISTANTelephoneTelefax: (992) 3422 62666Telephone/Telefax: (992) 3422 62667E-Mail: ifdctajikistan@ifdc.org

StaffYlli Biçoku, Interim Chief of Party – BSAIDD3

Abdusattor Abdullaev, Vet-consultant (Jabbor Rasulov)Khurshed Abdurahimov, Receptionist/Office Manager (JabborRasulov)

Global Offices and Staff (continued)(as of June 30, 2006)

Ahad Azamov, Vet-consultant (Jabbor Rasulov)Shahlo Bakieva, Receptionist (Jabbor Rasulov)1

Mamatsharip Berdaliev, Agronomist (Batken)1

Ikrom Bobojonov, Vet-consultant, (Jabbor Rasulov)Ayselbek Kurgunov, Office Manager/Association DevelopmentSpecialist (Batken)

Fazildin Kuzibaev, Business Development and Livestock FeedSpecialist (Khujand)

Husnidin Kuziboev, Chief Agronomist/Association DevelopmentSpecialist (Khujand)1

Manzura Mahkamova, Executive Director of AATA (Khujand)Mashura Mahkamova, Intern (Khujand)Ubaidullo Mirvaidullaev, Project Manager (Khujand)1

Abdukayum Mulloev, Vet-consultant (Jabbor Rasulov)Negmat Negmatov, Assistant Agronomist and LivestockSpecialist (Khujand)

Zikridin Rahimov, Vet-consultant (Jabbor Rasulov)Tahmina Rahmatova, Office Manager/Accountant (Khujand)Abdurauf Samadov, Intern (Khujand)Zarrina Sharipova, Receptionist (Khujand)Nurali Sheraliev, Vet-consultant (Jabbor Rasulov)Abduhalil Sobirov, Driver (Jabbor Rasulov)Homid Soibov, Vet-consultant (Jabor Rasulov)Ikrom Soliboev, Driver (Khujand)Abduvali Usupov, Driver (Khujand)

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Vice ChairmanProfessor Roelof RabbingeUniversity ProfessorDean of Wageningen Graduate SchoolsThe Netherlands

Board of Directors(as of June 30, 2006)

ChairmanMr. M. Peter McPhersonPresidentNational Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)U.S.A.

Professor Fayez E. KhasawnehPresident EmeritusYarmouk UniversityIrbidJordan

Mr. G. J. DoornbosPresident of the Water Authority of Rinjland (The Netherlands)

Chairman of the Board for Agri-ProFocusThe Netherlands

Dr. John B. HardmanExecutive DirectorThe Carter CenterU.S.A.

Mr. Hiroyoshi IharaAuditorJapan International Cooperation AgencyJapan

Mr. Soumaïla CissePresidentWest Africa Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)Mali

Mr. Patrick J. MurphyDirector and Manager (Retired)International Private Banking OfficeBank of AmericaU.S.A.

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Board of Directors (continued)(as of June 30, 2006)

Mr. Abdelmajid Slama (Tunisia)Director, RetiredNear East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe DivisionInternational Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentItaly

Dr. Edward C.A. Runge (U.S.A.)Professor and Billie B. Turner Chair in Production AgronomySoil & Crop SciencesCollege of Agriculture and Life Sci-encesTexas A&M UniversityU.S.A.

Ex Officio MemberDr. Amit H. RoyPresident and Chief Executive OfficerIFDC

Ex Officio MemberMr. Vincent McAlisterSecretary to the BoardIFDC Legal CounselIFDC

Dr. Ruth Khasaya Oniang’oMember of ParliamentGovernment of KenyaKenya

Mr. Mortimer Hugh NeufvilleExecutive Vice PresidentNational Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)U.S.A.

Ms. M. Ann TutwilerManaging DirectorTrade and DevelopmentWilliam and Flora Hewlett FoundationU.S.A.

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• An international center for soil fertility and agricultural development• A nonprofit, public international organization—combining state-of-the-art research and development to address global

issues such asAlleviation of global povertyPromotion of economic developmentReduction of hungerProtection of the environment

• Collaborative programs and partnerships that enrich and sustain lives and livelihoods of poor people globally• Unique research capabilities and market development and training skills, which enable IFDC to develop incentive-based

programs customized for local needs and problems

What Is IFDC?

Mission

Staff and Facilities• International, multidisciplinary staff and physical facilities uniquely suited for conducting a broad range of research and

development activities in sustainable food systems.• Scientists and professionals that provide a unique mix of applied research, technology transfer, and market development

capabilities.• Activities conducted in collaboration with national and international organizations.• Access to a wide variety of facilities worldwide.• Specialized research laboratories, greenhouses, growth chambers, specialized instruments essential for laboratory re-

search, bench-scale and pilot-plant units, training facilities, technical library, scientific information services, and a wordprocessing center.

To increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner through the development and transfer ofeffective and environmentally sound plant nutrient technology and agricultural marketing expertise.

• A problem-solving, results-oriented organization with a 30+-year track record of providing a broad range of services intechnical assistance, research, and training to more than 130 countries.

• Broad range of projects.Engineering and technologyManagement information systemsNutrient managementPolicy reformMarket development

• Practical, unbiased solutions to challenges confronting decision makers of the world’s public and private agricultural sectorsin the most cost-effective and efficient manner.

Capabilities

IFDC Profile

84

• Collaborative work with IARCs, numerous national organizations, private sector, NGOs

• Partners and clientsBilateral and multilateral development agenciesHost-government institutionsPrivate enterprises

• Funding sources include bilateral and multilateral development agencies, private enterprises, foundations, and other organi-zations. Additional revenue is generated from long-term, donor-funded, market development projects involving transfer ofpolicy and technology improvements in emerging economies

Locations and Funding

Muscle Shoals, AL (HQ)•

Venezuela •Colombia•Ecuador •

Peru •Bolivia •

Zambia •Angola •

Uganda •

Malawi•Tanzania•Kenya•

Ethiopia•Nigeria•

Benin•

Madagascar•

Togo •Ghana •Burkina Faso •

Niger•Mali•

Morocco •

Belgium •Kosovo • Albania•

Syria • Azerbaijan•Kyrgyzstan•

Afghanistan•Nepal•Bangladesh •

Vietnam•Cambodia •

Romania•

An International Center for Soil Fertilityand Agricultural Development

Tajikistan•

Mozambique •

Washington, DC•

Senegal •

IFDCP.O. Box 2040Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35662, U.S.A.

Telephone: +1 (256) 381-6600Telefax: +1 (256) 381-7408E-Mail: general@ifdc.orgWeb Site: www.ifdc.orgISSN-1536-0660

Section on Africa Fertilizer Summit written by Dr. Thomas R. HargroveFull report edited by Hargrove, Lisa Loggins Thigpen, and Lynda F. YoungGraphics/Layout: Lynda F. Young and Donna W. Venable

PHOTO CREDITS: Dr. Thomas R. Hargrove; Dr. J.J. Robert Groot; Francis Tamelokpo; Willem-Albert Toose; Dr. Craig A. Meisner;Mariette Gross; Dr. Thomas P. Thompson; The Carter Center; IFDC/Africa; Amatevi Raoul Klutse; Kokou Ankou; Blessing Ihediwa;Dr. Walter T. Bowen; Dr. Thomas W. Crawford, Jr.; IFDC/Albania; Blerta Xhoma; Lisa Thigpen; Charles E. Butler

IFDC—An International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural DevelopmentCircular IFDC S-29ISSN-1536-06602M