Notore Chemical Industries has lamented over the low usage of fertilisers among farmers in Africa, noting that the African continent accounts for only 18 per cent of the world’s cultivated land area with only three per cent consumption of fertiliser.
Notore said the average world fertilizer consumption is around 93kg per hectare of cultivated land, but Africa’s average consumption lags behind at 20kg/ha, adding that the Sub-Saharan Africa fertiliser consumption dropped to 8 per cent which was 0.6 per cent of world consumption and a far cry from the target of 50 per cent /ha by 2015 set by African ministers at the Africa Fertiliser Summit in Abuja.
Notore pointed out that Nigerian farmers utilise about 8-10kg per hectare compared with 200kg per hectare that is approved by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
“The question has always been how Nigerian farmers get access to fertilisers among other agricultural inputs to increase crop yields and quality as well as farmers income. To many, government involvement in fertiliser purchase and distribution is one of the many reasons for low consumption of fertilisers as the system is heavily politicised, with many politicians using fertiliser supply and subsidies to garner votes and reward patronage,” Notore stressed.
According to Notore, this has implications beyond low fertiliser consumption maintaining that, the subsidies, which cost the government dearly, very often benefit the wrong people.
“During the 2008/2009 farming season in one state, PropCom established that 10 per cent of farmers received the government subsidised fertiliser and, of those, over two-thirds paid 40 per cent more than the state subsidised price. It is said that almost 90 per cent of the state’s subsidy, worth about N2.3 billion, equivalent to £10 million, was ‘wasted’ on unintended beneficiaries,” Notore said.
It is even discovered by PropCom that the distributors receiving the subsidised fertiliser usually sell it on open market prices. Consequently, they make abnormally high profits and may hoard fertiliser rather than sell it for less than the market price,” Notore stressed.
Notore said many poor farmers find it difficult to pay for the 50kg bags of fertiliser and either opt to buy it in small units from open bags, which often contain degraded or adulterated products, or wait in the vain hope of receiving subsidized fertilizer, thus missing out on applying it at the optimum time, if at all.
“Fertiliser production and distribution companies aware of the inconsistencies of government led distribution are opening up to the idea of developing private distribution channels and making fertiliser available to farmers in small quantity.
“Captains of industries and stakeholders in the agricultural industry were in Onne, the home of Notore Chemical Industries Limited, an agro-allied and chemical company committed to enhancing the quality of life in Africa through local food production, where they were led into the efforts of the company,” Notore added.
The Group CEO, Notore, Onajite Paul Okoloko, during the visit, said they are creating a green revolution in Nigeria by making inputs available to farmers and producing it locally at the same time at the volume and quantity the farmers will require for easy application.
During the process of conducting the visitors that included the Bank of Industry (BOI)’s boss, Ms Oputu ; John Aboh and Emmanuel Ijewere of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group among others, round the company’s facilities, they were briefed on the success recorded so far by the company.
Okoloko said the introduction of the 1kg fertiliser bag option in a response to address the infrastructural and financial challenges currently witnessed by Nigeria subsistent farmers have been successful.
“These farmers, who earn less than $1 a day, live far away from market centres and cannot access the markets easily. Not only do the farmers find it difficult to come up with the cash needed to buy the 50kg bag fertilizer but carrying ithome from the marketplace also poses a challenge for them.”
He added that while introducing the 1kg bag that they selected salesmen also known as ‘Village Promoters’
Notore, he said, conducted a rigorous and transparent nationwide recruitment exercise for Distribution Partners, in which one out of every five applicants emerged as a Distribution Partner.
The lucky applicants were selected based on their experience, capabilities and alignment to Notore’s vision of Championing the African Green Revolution.
Okoloko disclosed that the ‘Village promoters’ underwent training conducted by Agricultural services department of the company with a curriculum that was developed by both Notore and PropCom. “The curricula included best practices on correct fertilizer usage and farming techniques. These village promoters are in turn sharing their knowledge amongst the farming communities in which they sell the 1kg.” Recalling the success stories of some of the Village Promoters, the visiting team was told of Auwalu Sani, an Islamic college graduate, who was selected as one of the village promoters on the Notore’s 1kg pilot project called Fast Track was able to make profit margins of over N75, 000 on it and N224,760 with On Track.
