Nigeria boasts of 8m metric tonnes of fertilizer production capacity

Demand stands at 500,000mt as stakeholders begins data validation

With about 70 registered fertilizer-blending plants in the country, Nigeria has the capacity to produce eight million metric tonnes of fertilizer per year, industry experts have revealed.

Unfortunately, due to the high cost of the major farm inputs among other factors, about 500,000mt is demanded by the farmers. The Programme Lead for African Fertilizer Initiative with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) Sebastian Nduva, while speaking at the NPK Technical Working Group Validation Workshop, yesterday in Abuja, stated that Nigeria has the largest number of registered fertiliser blending plants in Africa and it’s close to being self-sufficient in NPK fertilizer production.

According to him, the validation of the statistics of fertilizer produced in the country was to give policy makers confidence as the data will be useful for the government ahead of the take-off of the second phase of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI).

On the high cost of fertilizer, Nduva noted that with the importation of 40 per cent of raw materials used for fertilizer production, the local price of the farm input would be influenced by global forces, saying currency devaluation, conflicts in Eastern Europe affecting the sourcing market among other factors.

However, he said stakeholders are of the opinion that if the government can take advantage of local production as well as the efficient and transparent system in the procurement and distribution of fertilizer, it will help reduce the cost to the farmers.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma, commended IFDC for aligning with the government’s objective to enhance food security through the Africa Fertilizer Initiative, saying with the data provided on the dashboard, the Federal Government can offer valuable guidance to potential investors in the fertilizer industry.

Uzoma however, suggested the need for the programme to consider including fertilizer quality, saying the inclusion will provide a comprehensive overview of the industry, benefiting both investors and government initiatives.

The President of fertilizer Producers and Supplier Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) Abubakar Kasim, in his remarks, recalled that President Bola Tinubu had rolled out plans to distribute fertilizers to farmers, saying if there are no information on the quantity of fertiliser that is available they won’t be able to plan well.

The FEPSAN president revealed that though fertilizer-blending plants in the country have an installed capacity of eight million tonnes of NPK but have never produced beyond two million tonnes due to lack of raw materials, foreign exchange among other limitations.

He said: “Nigeria has the ability to be self-sufficient in fertilizer production and if they get government support, the body can produce more than enough to even supply the whole of Africa.”

Abubakar said while they can assure of availability of the farm input, there is need to discuss with the government on measures to undertake in order to make fertilizer more affordable to people.

He said they would be able to produce fertilizer at an affordable rate if they are able to get the raw materials being imported into the country at a cheaper rate, adding that if the government can provide concessionary funds to the private sector in the sector they will be able to produce at an affordable rate.