Nigerian Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria, FEPSAN, and a Moroccan company, OCP, have reached a fertilizer agreement that will yield one million tons of fertilizer through local production for the upcoming farming season. The deal will also push the price of fertilizer from N8,000 to about N5,000. Both companies will come together to promote innovation in an effort to contribute towards productivity-led agricultural growth and improve farmers’ livelihood.
OCP, a world leader in phosphate and its derivatives, is committed to the development of agriculture in Africa and, with this agreement, it also tries to promote the use of agricultural inputs including access to adequate crop nutrients as a major tool for improving agricultural productivity and farmers’ income. Nigeria had previously established the National Fertilizer Technical Committee under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to promote sustainable production of quality fertilizer for both local consumption and export. Currently, the country’s fertilizer industry has a blending capacity of 4 million tons of NPK annually and 2 million tons of production capacity for urea with ability to create over 250,000 jobs both directly and indirectly across the country. However, less than 10 percent of this capacity is being utilized.
Under the agreement, the specific areas of collaboration include: securing a supply of quality crop nutrients by shipping raw materials required for the production of the item in line with the crops and soils adaptable to Nigeria, boosting blending capabilities by leveraging on technical know-how and engineering capabilities, stimulating product innovation and development through the deployment of the Moroccan expertise in producing scientifically recommended formulae adaptable to the needs of the Nigerian soil.
