Yara
Ghana is to serve as the African regional hub in the manufacture and
distribution of mineral fertilizer to farmers across the continent.
With
decades of experience on the continent, Yara provides crop nutrition products
and unique agronomic knowledge, in addition to investing across the African
agricultural value chain.
Company
officials from various countries are meeting in Ghana to strategize on Yara’s commitment
to African agriculture.
“They want Yara Ghana to be in a position to be able
to supply fertilizer to support other countries in Africa where Yara has
branches; they want Yara Ghana to supervise the activities of all these
countries”, said Henry Otoo Mensah, Retail Sales Manager at Yara
Ghana.
According to him, the company is consolidating its support to the development of
Africa’s agricultural sector and food production.
Yara,
which is the world’s leading
mineral fertilizer company, sells fertilizers to about 25 African countries,
maintains sales offices in eight, and owns four blending plants.
Since establishing in Ghana in 2007, the company has
taken a leadership position in the market and invested to implement a bulk
blending fertilizer production facility in Tema.
Yara Ghana has been strengthening the quality and depth of input supply and related services
to increase the productivity of Ghanaian farmers.
Mr. Otoo-Mensah tells Luv Biz Report fertilizer use
should be increased to meet food production targets.
“We need to produce more [but] land that we have at
our disposal is reducing; so within that small space that we have for
agricultural purposes, we need to maximize agricultural productivity, that is
where fertilizer comes in and Yara has developed its fertilizer to the extent
that it’s economical; once you apply it the right way, your yield will
increase”, he stated.
Meanwhile,
some farmers have complained of insufficient supply of fertilizer to last them
the entire crop season.
But Mr.
Otoo-Mensah says Yara cannot be blamed because the company only distributes its
allocated quota under the government’s Fertilizer Subsidy Program.
“The
solution is in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to increase Yara’s quota to
enable us cover the smallscale farmers’ demand”, he opined.
Yara is a
key partner to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in
developing sustainable agriculture, improving productivity and increasing
production.
