A “strategic partnership” is being set up to develop sustainable agriculture in West Africa and the Sahel. This is the outcome of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which come to a close on 15 October 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco. The World Bank is entering into a partnership with the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP Group) to promote food security in West Africa.
As part of the Memorandum of Understanding between @ocpgroup and the @WorldBank to foster cooperation and programs benefitting five million farmers in Benin, Guinea, Mali, and Togo, covering 10 million hectares, OCP Africa's COO @HettitiM signed agreements with Benin, Guinea, and… pic.twitter.com/arBoQ4CNBB
— OCP AFRICA (@OCP_Africa) October 12, 2023
“The aim is to bring about a fair and sustainable agricultural transition by giving West African farmers greater access to fertilisers specially designed to nourish their soil and improve crop yields, thereby increasing farmers’ sources of income and contributing to the region’s development and prosperity,” explained Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of the OCP Group.
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The partnership focuses in particular on improving soil health and fertility by analysing digital soil mapping in order to provide suitable fertilisers. The two institutions are also committed to working towards the establishment of Agricultural Technology Centres and services to train and assist small-scale farmers. The World Bank and OCP Group also plan to launch a digital agriculture school programme to build local capacity and entrepreneurship, and thus transform the agri-food sector. These initiatives should benefit 5 million farmers in Benin, Guinea, Mali and Togo, covering an area of 10 million hectares.
The partnership also includes support for the establishment of a Regional Centre for Soil Health and Fertility Management in West Africa, within the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based in Ibadan, Nigeria. This partnership comes at a time when the OCP Group wants to decarbonise the production process for its fertilisers using renewable energies.
The Group is also implementing a solar energy production programme for its mining sites, which received a $100 million loan on 10 October from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector financing arm. According to the Washington-based financial institution in the United States of America, the partnership with the OCP Group “is essential to help achieve the commitments made by the Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in the Lomé Declaration approved in May 2023”.
Jean Marie Takouleu