OCP Africa partners with IsDB to boost rice output in Côte d’Ivoire

OCP Africa, subsidiary of the state-owned Moroccan phosphate group (OCP) has teamed up with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to boost rice farming and enhance agriculture value chains in Côte d’Ivoire.

Under a cooperation agreement inked this week, the ITFC will support OCP Agribooster program to be carried in Côte d’Ivoire, where rice production is practised by about 8 percent of the population. This program will help 20,000 farmers improve rice productivity and revenues by providing them high-quality fertilizers and hybrid seeds and by training them on good agricultural practices and soil fertility.

 

The OCP program will also help to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and help boost global food supply chains.

 

The Agribooster program has reached so far over 630,000 smallholder farmers across four African countries (Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire), enabling them to increase their yield by up to 40 pc.

 

OCP Africa works hand in hand with farmers to help grow the agricultural potential of the African continent through solutions adapted to local conditions and to the needs of soils and crops.

OCP Africa is present in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Benin, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Rwanda. It seeks to secure the production of competitive fertilizers near major agricultural pools, to strengthen its logistical capacities and to develop new local distribution networks.