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| IFDC, WAFA, AfricaFertilizer.org release Week 2 of COVID-19 Fertilizer Watch
We are launching Week 2 of the COVID-19 West Africa Fertilizer Watch, now with support from ECOWAS, UEMOA, CILSS, and USAID. Last week focused on the fertilizer supply chain and the stock of fertilizer in each country. This week we are featuring information on subsidies.
Click below to download the full report and subscribe for updates.
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| | What is the Fertilizer Watch?
The Fertilizer Watch is designed to provide weekly updates to stakeholders throughout ECOWAS countries, including Chad and Mauritania, using data collected around 10 indicators. These indicators are related to a variety of information such as the spread of COVID-19, measures taken by country governments, and logistical constraints that affect fertilizer flows. The goal is a well-informed and prepared fertilizer supply chain, where actors can use the information to plan accordingly and ensure consistent delivery to farmers.
IFDC, WAFA, and AfricaFertilizer.org are working to ensure that fertilizers and other agricultural inputs are not limited, but rather supported, by governments’ decisions, so that they can continue to reach farmers in time for the growing season. This initiative is supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel (CILSS), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Week 2: Highlights
- Fertilizer logistics: so far, so good. The calls made at the ECOWAS Conference of Ministers of Agriculture on March 31 to ensure the free movement of essential products, including agricultural products and inputs, have been largely heeded.
- Fertilizer stocks need to be built up rapidly, as they are covering barely half of the estimated 3.5 million tons demand as of the end of March. With local demand weakening and emergency program on the horizon, incentives and financial guarantees to the private sector seem essential to ensure needs are well covered in the coming months.
- Intervention programs need to be adapted, and will have to be built around existing subsidy programs or group purchasing mechanisms capable of delivering fertilizers rapidly to small rice, maize, or cotton producers this year 2020 and 2021.
To download the Fertilizer Watch and the full country reports in English and French, visit our website. |
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