Morocco’s OCP teams up with Ethiopian Government, AfDB, Global Partners for Climate-Smart Wheat Initiative

OCP Africa, an offshoot of the Moroccan fertilizer producer giant OCP, participated in the launch of the Climate Resilient Wheat Value Chain Development Project in Ethiopia.

The launch event, held earlier this week, was attended by Ethiopia’s Agriculture Minister, Girma Amente, as well as partners such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), The Netherlands and the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA).

This initiative, which follows the trajectory of the Nairobi Summit on Fertilizers and Soil Health in Africa, represents an important step towards solving the soil health problems affecting tens of millions of hectares of land in Ethiopia.

CEO of OCP Africa, Mohamed Anouar Jamali, outlined the objectives of the project and pointed out that “OCP Africa’s support for this project will help address the unique soil challenges in Ethiopia, such as salinity and acidity. By conducting comprehensive assessments of local soils, climate and cropping systems, we will develop customized solutions to improve soil health and fertility.”

“This scientific approach, combined with a comprehensive program of capacity building and farmer training in best farming practices, will help reduce the yield gap in Ethiopia’s wheat value chain,” said Anouar Jamali.

The project aims to map 1 million hectares of soil; reach over 1 million farmers through various programs; and establish 4 agricultural hubs in the country.

Collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture has already shown promising results. Since 2019, OCP Africa has developed and tested customized fertilizer formulas, significantly improving the productivity of acid soils.

Large-scale demonstrations carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and other regional institutes have confirmed substantial yield increases using these adapted formulas.

As OCP Africa pursues this approach, the commitment remains strong to support Ethiopia’s efforts towards a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector, Jamali said.

The project is expected to benefit a total of 500,000 smallholder households or 2,300,000 people. The project targets 50% women. These will include 15% of women headed households (representing 75 000 households with 345,000 people) in 78 Woredas/Districts of Afar, Amhara, Oromia, and Somali Regional States. Amhara and Oromia regions are the largest highland wheat producing areas of the country while Afar and Somali regions have great potential for lowland irrigated wheat. The four regions produce approximately 3.8 million tons of wheat with 82% under rainfed and 18% under irrigation.