Taking the tricks out of the trade

No one should be surprised that soil fertility in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa is declining. Africa's consumption of fertilisers is the lowest in the world and organic matter that could, to some extent, replace harvested nutrients, is often burnt and soils left bare to the degrading effects of the sun and the wind. How can farmers produce more when the plant producing power of the soil is becoming less?

If South Africa is excluded, fertiliser use in sub-Saharan Africa averages 9kg per hectare. The global average is 100kg per hectare; China uses 250kg per hectare. Perhaps this is to be expected because an African farmer pays, on average, six times more for a bag of fertiliser than do farmers elsewhere in the world. There are many reasons but among them are the poor road and rail networks on the continent. It costs as much to transport one tonne of fertiliser from Europe or North America to the port of an African country as it does to transport the same volume 100km inland. Manipulation by vested interests in the import and supply processes of agricultural inputs is another. Too often in the past those in power have increased their 'yields' from fertilisers at the expense of farmers who desperately need to increase theirs. And the majority of African farmers make insufficient profit from the sale of their crops to allow them to purchase fertilisers. Add to these inhibiting factors the common experience of products simply not being available at regional dealerships when farmers need to apply them, and one begins to see why soil fertility management is looming large in the minds of those concerned about decreasing yields and increasing poverty among Africa's smallholder farmers.

Soil scientists, academics, and representatives from ministries of agriculture, NGOs, international institutions and the fertiliser supply industry discussed the issues at a seminar* organised and funded by CTA (the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation) and held in Arnhem, The Netherlands, 21-24 October 2003. Two recent developments described at the seminar may help to change the situation. In Ghana an association of private sector dealers - the Ghana Agri-Inputs Dealers Association - has recently been formed with the idea of promoting competition, ensuring stocks are held at regional branches ready for sale to farmers before the onset of rains, and equalising prices throughout the country. Guidelines have been established to which members of the Association are expected to adhere. The Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to work with the Association and any members continuing to operate outside the guidelines may, after caution, be banned from trading. The Association's message to its members is that their business depends upon farmers doing well and it is therefore in their interests to ensure that they have the right products available at the right time and at the right price.

Another initiative that has just been launched is the MIR project of IFDC, an international centre for soil fertility and agricultural development that has its African headquarters in Togo with branches in Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria. MIR recognises external inputs are out of reach for resource-poor farmers in part because local markets are thin and not performing well. A regional market for the whole of West Africa, supported by harmonised policies and legislation and an effective information system, should help to trigger agricultural intensification on a sustainable and profitable basis. To achieve this, farmer organisations, trade associations, input dealers, regional organisations, policy makers, donors, international research and development institutions, as well as regional political and economic organisations have agreed to co-operate. The hope is that the greatly increased size of the single market will be sufficient to attract more business development from the inputs industry. And regional co-operation helps to defeat the efforts of national governments or powerful individuals to manipulate the market for their own ends.

* For more information:
CTA Seminar Proceedings