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Rabat – Morocco’s phosphate and fertilizer giant OCP Group has donated 15,000 tonnes of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizers to Rwanda, in a bid to help the East African country increase its farm productivity.
In a statement to Rwanda’s news outlet The New Times, Rwandan Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources Gerardine Mukeshimana said that OCP’s donation is of a “special importance in this period when fertilizer costs are high.”
COVID-19 and the Ukrainian war have disturbed the global chain supply and caused a severe shortage of fertilizers worldwide. Soaring prices are also creating uncertainty for farmers and agricultural ministries around the world.
“Of that [the donation] committed amount, 10,000 tonnes are going to be used as a strategic fertilizer reserve. That means we have a stock of fertilizers and whenever there is a need, we will be able to inject it into the farming community,” Mukeshimana said.
The remaining 5,000 tonnes will be a “free starting stock of the fertilizer blending plant to support the launch of its production of adapted fertilizers,” the Rwandan minister added.
OCP Africa’s CEO Mohamed Anouar Jamali warned that the repercussions of the Ukraine war on fertilizer prices and effects of drought in Eastern Africa are likely to cause unbearable situations for smallholder farmers and be disastrous for food security.
Reaffirming commitment to help small farmers in Rwanda and strengthen its agricultural ecosystem, OCP Group further pledged to supply the East African country with additional 17,000 tonnes DAP fertilizers at a discounted price.
This is part of the OCP’s initiative to empower African farmers and ensure food security across Africa.
Minister Mukeshimana, Anouar Jamali, as well as other senior Rwandan officials, have visited the construction site of the fertilizer plant in Bugesera District to assess its progress.
The plant, which is a joint venture between OCP Group and the Government of Rwanda, requires an estimated investment of $38 million and it is expected to have a capacity to blend 100,000 tonnes of fertilizers annually.
On the joint venture – Rwanda Fertilizer Company (RFC) -, the OCP representative stressed that the plant testifies to the Group’s commitment to develop the Agricultural sector in the continent.
The Rwandan minister noted that the factory is expected to become operational by May 2023.
Read Also: OCP Group to Establish New Chemicals Company ‘OCP Nutricrops’
