Morocco’s OCP carries on support to African farmers
Morocco’s OCP group, which elaborated a program to support African farmers as the continent faces a food security crisis, has donated 5,000 tons of fertilizers to smallholder farmers in Mauritania and struck a partnership with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture to launch soil mapping exercises for over 100 participants.
The fertilizers donated to Mauritania will benefit smallholder farmers who represent the majority of food producers in the country.
Mauritania’s Minister of Agriculture Yahia Ould Ahmed El Waghf, who received the batch, commended Morocco’s initiative, and emphasized that the donation joins the “efforts made by the two countries to strengthen their bilateral cooperation.”
The Mauritanian official welcomed Morocco’s support for his country’s agricultural sector through the distribution of fertilizers and seeds.
Director General of OCP Africa, Anouar Jamali, commenting on the donation, said Mauritania has been identified as the main beneficiary of the program, which serves over four million farmers across Africa.
The program, to benefit 50,000 farmers in Mauritania, seeks to contribute to strengthen cooperation and partnership between Morocco and its southern neighbor, Jamali said, noting that OCP’s mechanism will also integrate training and awareness raising on best agricultural practices in terms of sustainable fertilization, supply chain, as well as access to finance and markets.
The same week, OCP Africa announced the launch of soil mapping exercises for over 100 participants under a partnership with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.
The project aims to achieve enhanced fertilizer customization for the participants.
Fertilizer and soil customization has become one of the most important pillars of OCP Africa’s strategy in recent years, allowing the company to produce better results for its partners across the continent.
OCP’s customization strategy focuses on supplying farmers with the right type and amount of fertilizer for their specific soil and their specific needs.
Kenya received its first batches of Moroccan fertilizers in September this year, which enabled to lower the price of fertilizers for farmers who had been suffering from a global shortage in fertilizers.
OCP which endeavors to address both the immediate and longer-term drivers of food insecurity on the continent announced in October to have committed to reserve over 4 million tons of fertilizers for African farmers in 2023. This is more than double OCP’s supply to the continent in 2021 and represents over a quarter of OCP’s expected total output.
OCP Group Chairman & CEO, Mostafa Terrab, who had made the announcement had said that in line with OCP’s farmer-centric approach, this fertilizer supply program will include training and capacity building alongside local partners. This allocation ensures that the right fertilizers will be available to the whole continent, helping to boost yields for 44 million farmers across 35 countries, including Morocco, where the company is based.
OCP has heavily invested in the development of eco-responsible fertilizer production capacity, to reach 15 MT of finished product by 2023, from a base of 3MT in 2008. This enables OCP to respond to Africa’s urgent needs while also supporting farmers around the world.
Morocco’s OCP launched the first phase of the fertilizer program, under the instructions of King Mohammed VI, to contribute to a sustainable transition of agricultural systems on the continent.
The program is also part of OCP’s investments over the past 10 years in Africa-focused research and development in collaboration with agronomic institutes and research universities across the continent.
