NAN-AE-10
Fertiliser
By Ginika Okoye
Abuja, Nov. 3, 2016 (NAN) The West Africa Fertiliser Association (WAFA) has called on ECOWAS member countries to invest in local fertiliser production through collaboration with the private sector in their various domains.
The Vice President of the association, Mr Innocent Okuku, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
Okuku said that although the sub-region is blessed with abundant raw materials for fertiliser production, such raw materials were either being underutilised or wasted.
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“There are a lot of raw materials for fertiliser production in West Africa that nobody is using today and yet we go to outside West Africa to import products that we could produce from the raw materials we have.
“How can African countries, governments push investors to invest in these kinds of products so they can be producing the products for West Africa instead of importing them.
“It will create more jobs, a more stable economy. So, these are the things that WAFA is looking at.’’
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According to him, Nigeria uses more than 50 per cent of the fertiliser imported to West Africa even though only 1.4 million of the 64 million small-holder farmers had been reached by the fertiliser subsidy programme of the Federal Government.
Okuku, however, expressed optimism that investment in the fertiliser value chain by the private sector will enable rural farmers to improve harvest.
The vice president also appealed to West African governments to establish cross-country rail systems and water ways to aid transportation of fertiliser and to reduce its cost in the market.
He called for the establishment of a sub-regional fertiliser programme to make the product reach every farmer in the area.
WAFA is an association of all private sector players in the fertiliser industry from all ECOWAS countries with a common platform to address issues related to fertilisers in the West African sub region.
ECOWAS fertiliser programme mandates all member countries to appoint fertiliser inspectors and other authorities and give them adequate resources. (NAN)
GINI/OSA/YEE
Edited by Shittu Obassa/Emmanuel Yashim
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