Fertilizers: OCP Africa’s initiatives highlighted in Nairobi
OCP Africa’s initiatives in times of crisis were presented in Nairobi during the “Argus Africa Fertilizer 2023” event, held from February 8 to 10 in the Kenyan capital.
Speaking at a panel on how to facilitate access to fertilizers in Africa, vice president of sales and marketing of OCP Africa in Morocco, Habiba Mouttaki, highlighted the OCP Group’s initiative to deliver 550,000 tons of fertilizers to Africa to mitigate the impact of soaring commodity prices and droughts, noting that this program has benefited more than 4 million farmers across the continent.
Mouttaki also highlighted the acceleration of the Group’s strategy to develop the distribution network, through several schemes including “Farmer Houses,” specifically designed to improve the accessibility of agricultural products, services and knowledge closer to the farmer.
The meeting also discussed initiatives targeting the farmer directly, in terms of support, capacity building, internships, as well as in terms of connection with the markets, she added, referring in this sense to programs such as Udongo, an application launched by OCP Africa to connect small farmers to suppliers of agricultural inputs and buyers of commodities.
In the same framework, Mouttaki recalled the importance of OCP Africa’s Agribooster program, which connects farmers to markets through partnerships, as well as Farmer Hubs and OCP School Lab, which has benefited more than 530,000 African farmers, explaining that these flagship programs of OCP Africa are part of the policy of facilitating access to fertilizers.
In a statement to MAP, deputy director general of OCP Kenya, Hatim Lahmiym, said that the participation in this event is an opportunity to forge links with new partners, strengthen existing partnerships and exchange knowledge and experience with different actors in the field of fertilizers.