Ghana and OCP strenghthen ties increase yields

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  • Strategic partnership designed to fully optimize Ghanaian agriculture’s fertilizer value chain.
  • Introduce support programs for Ghanaian farmers: additional training, soil mapping & access to inputs, market linkages and financing.
  • Initiatives to increase employability, greater balanced fertilizer consumption & access to fertilizers at a competitive price.
  • Enhance a greater South-South cooperation.

Accra, Republic of Ghana, September 5, 2019 - Ghana's Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), represented by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, and OCP Group are pleased to announce the signing of 2 additional milestone agreements, a Cooperation Agreement regarding the farmer centric activities, soil mapping, innovation and digital farmer registration as well as a Term Sheet for the industrial project, aimed at strengthening key aspects of the development of Ghanaian agriculture and industry. This follows on from the Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2018, in which the Government of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and OCP Group, set out to improve the fertilizer value chain to provide “customized fertilizers at competitive prices to Ghanaian farmers.”

This partnership offers stakeholders, in the fertilizer value chain, a range of high value-added services aiming at providing Ghanaian farmers with adapted and competitive fertilizers but also with all the resources tailored to their success: training for a better knowledge of their crops, understanding how best to maximize soil nutrition and a better financial inclusion. The key initiatives include a holistic offer to farmers (access to inputs, training, financing, market linkages, Farmers School).

Alongside this latest Cooperation Agreement, OCP has also launched its IMPULSE program, developed by the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), which aims at accelerating start-ups and active agri-entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. In August 2019, Accra hosted the first stage of the IMPULSE program's African tour.

To enable the partnership between MoFA & OCP Group to become as effective as possible it has included extensive research from the UM6P University, including start-up aspects, plus JESA, OCP Group’s engineering subsidiary dedicated to the African continent alongside OCP Africa, its African subsidiary and the OCP foundation.

The project of a fertilizer production plant, announced last September is to be located in the western part of Ghana, in the Jomoro’s district. While the project is still in its conceptual phase, topographic and geotechnical studies are in progress. With the availability and processing of the natural resources of both countries, combining natural gas from Ghana and phosphate from Morocco, the industrial unit is expected to have a fertilizer’s production capacity of ~1 million tons.

In addition, this project will promote the development of the fertilizer value chain through tailored fertilizers produced locally for the Ghanaian market, involving the existing ecosystem of blending operators, while meeting the nutrient requirements adapted to local soil and crops. OCP Group will also offer a wide range of services including the promotion of entrepreneurship through the recently launched IMPULSE program, focused on 4 strategic fields including Agriculture. In tandem, the program will benefit from the setting up of digital solutions such as the MoFA farmer registration initiative, including technical and scientific innovation in collaboration with the TEAL, a JV between OCP and IBM, and the MOFA extension program. the joint MoFA and OCP initiatives are perfectly aligned with Ghana's Government strategy to boost the agricultural sector through its flagship program “Planting for Food and Job”

Ultimately, these joint initiatives will help employability, provide access to the quality inputs at a competitive price and significantly increase balanced fertilizer consumption by Ghanaian farmers. Currently, fertilizers’ use averages 18 kg of nutrients per hectare, which is well below the 50 kg of nutrients per hectare Abuja target. In addition to the Presidential Planting for Food and Job Program undertaken by the Government of Ghana, OCP Africa, the Group's African subsidiary, has since 2017 launched support programs for Ghanaian farmers through appropriate training, soil testing and offtake market opportunities. Some 85,000 farmers have benefited from the Agribooster and OCP School Lab programs since 2017. The Cooperation Agreement between MOFA and OCP plans to reach more than 500,000 farmers over the next 3 years, with at least 30% of women.

 

About OCP Group

OCP plays an important role in feeding a growing global population, by providing essential elements for soil fertility and plants growth. With almost a century of experience and revenues reaching US$ 5.95 billion in 2018, OCP Group is a leader in the phosphate rock and the world’s first producer of phosphate-based fertilizers. OCP provides a wide range of well-adapted fertilizer products to enhance soil, increase agricultural yields, and help feeding the planet in a sustainable and affordable way. Thanks to its large-scale integrated industrial development strategy, OCP is present on the entire phosphate value chain and operates on all of its business lines, offering to its 23,000 employees a development path focused on excellence. Headquartered in Morocco, OCP works in a close partnership with more than 160 customers over 5 continents. Committed to best serve the development of Africa, OCP places innovation at the heart of its strategy, in particular to implement sustainable and prosperous agriculture on the continent. As a responsible industrial player, OCP is strongly committed to Africa’s environmental, social and human development. The Group is firmly convinced that leadership and profitability are necessarily synonymous to social responsibility and sustainable development. Its strategic vision resides where these two dimensions meet.

For more information, please visit OCP Group’s official site at: www.ocpgroup.ma

Contact
International media relations
international.media@ocpgroup.ma

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