The largest fertilizer blending company in Ghana, Glofert Limited, has assured farmers of the availability of fertilizer for the current crop season and in the year 2022 despite the growing challenge with access to fertilizer across the world.
Key stakeholders in the fertilizer value chain in Ghana have predicted a severe shortage of the commodity in the coming months, following indications of supply hitches in many of Ghana’s supplier countries.
China, which is the world’s largest supplier of Urea, nitrogen and ammonia, has placed a restriction on the export of the products in a bid to ensure the availability of fertilizer to Chinese farmers.
Meanwhile, raw materials that used to cost about $300 a year ago now cost about $900.
CEO of Glofert Limited, Rev. Foster Mawuli Benson in a Citi Business News interview said the factory has put measures in place to help farmers access fertilizer during the predicted downtime.
“Being the largest blending factory in Ghana, we feel a responsibility to help ensure the availability of fertiliser even for all year farming because the rains seem to be falling all through the year now. We are currently producing 15,000 metric tonnes as our quota in support of the government’s planting for food and job initiative, and we will continue to produce even more in 2022 which is predicted to be a tough year for fertilizer. We can assure our farmers that Glofert fertilizer will be available”.
Rev. Mawuli Benson also acknowledged the challenges with the supply of raw materials for fertilizer production, noting that the current situation is “unheard of”.
Even though Ghana currently consumes about 400,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer per annum, the country is still nowhere close to the Abuja 2006 declaration in which AU Member States resolved to increase fertilizer use from 8 kilograms to 50 kilograms per hectare by the year 2015.
Farmers in Ghana currently apply about 29.4 kilograms of fertiliser per hectare which is still below the 50 kilograms target set for 2015 and this is largely blamed on the cost of fertilizer which is highly influenced by global prices of raw materials like urea and ammonia.
Rev. Benson said there is, however, a glimmer of hope for Ghana to produce some of the key ingredients used in the production of fertilizer.
He said, “even though Ghana will not be able to wean itself entirely off the importation of raw materials for the production of fertilizer, the production of some key raw materials in Ghana will go a long way to make fertilizer affordable and available to the Ghanaian farmers and work is ongoing on that. So sooner than later, we may start producing some raw materials”.
Rev. Mawuli Benson told Citi Business News, Glofert is currently blending fertilisers to meet the nutrient needs of specific crops and also to make up for specific soil nutrient deficiencies.
“Yes, the world is moving away from blanket application fertilisers so Glofert is currently blending to meet specific nutrient needs. We even blend with other micronutrients required to close the yield gaps of our farmers,” Rev. Benson told Citi Business News.
Rev. Benson further urged the government to remain undistracted in its quest to grow a resilient agric sector that ensures food security and also provides jobs for the young and old alike.
“I think we have a very intelligent Agric Minister who knows what he is about. Yes, the pandemic has stopped all of us in our tracks and also affected the government’s payments to fertilizer suppliers, but the government is doing its best and I will urge that they remain undistracted in ensuring that this (Agricultural) sector remains a priority for food security and also for jobs,” Rev. Benson said.
