Stakeholders require reliable, high-quality fertiliser data to inform their planning and strategy decisions. JULIANA AGBO writes
The need for accurate data to aid policy makers, producers, importers, traders, farmers and other interest groups in the fertiliser industry in Nigeria has become even more obvious in the face of dearth of such critical tool in program planning for production, importation, sales and distribution in a manner that will be most cost effective.
Reliable information and data are crucial in giving near accurate descriptions of trade, market and utilisation realities as they relate to fertilisers in the country.
While the Nigeria fertiliser industry possesses a blending capacity of four million tonnes of NPK fertiliser annually and two million tonnes of production for urea, it is believed to have the capacity to employ over 250,000 people through both direct and indirect jobs.
However, the poor nature of the data used today may well account for the poor performance of programs and projects in the recent past.
Therefore, stakeholders require reliable, high-quality fertiliser data to inform their planning and strategy decisions.
To this end, the Development Gateway and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector, launched fertiliser dashboard for Nigeria under the Visualising Insights on Fertiliser for African Agriculture (VIFAA).
Under this project, the dashboard collects the data on Nigerian fertiliser which includes the consumption, price, retail and others.
The VIFAA Project Manager in Nigeria for Development Gateway, Beverley Hatcher-Mbu said the dashboard would make available trustworthy data for the public and private sector to make decisions together.
“Essentially, the dashboard gathers key data on Nigeria’s fertiliser sector on price, consumption and product availability to make it easy to use, access, and free to the public. So anybody, private sector, public sector, can use it”, she said.
Hatcher-Mbu while explaining that the project is a multi-country program supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she said Nigeria has moved from being an importer to an exporter.
“We worked closely with the International Fertiliser Development Center (IFDC) that has an office here in Nigeria. So they both collect their own data, including retail price and they also work closely in what we call the fertilizer technical working group to ensure that all key actors agree on the key data points that show up on the dashboard.
“The key outcome is that if everybody starts from the same point with their data, then they can make the same kind of decisions.
“So it’s not that the public sector and private sector use different data and are trying to figure out what the best part is. Now, it’s clear that Nigeria has moved from being an importer to an exporter. So how does that change the decisions that companies make? How does that change the decisions that the public sector makes, we want everybody to have the best, most trustworthy data available to make decisions together. So that’s really for us, the key output of this dashboard”.
Speaking further on the importance of trustworthy data, the Executive Secretary, the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), Mr. Gideon Negedu said; “we understand the need to have trustworthy data on all aspects of the sector, and we have done our part to contribute to the data validation discussions each year, knowing that it is a benefit for all of us.
Negedu said FEPSAN had led the call to see more up to date data on everything from price to consumption, adding that they would work with members to make more data available.
“FEPSAN has been a key partner in the VIFAA Program from the outset, joining other esteemed stakeholders in this room at the various workshops and feedback sessions to ensure that the Dashboard meets the needs of our members.
“We have led the call to see more up to date data on everything from price to consumption, and we will work with our members to make more data available so that all of us can make better planning decisions that benefit farmers.
“Our mandate is to represent the needs and interests of fertiliser manufacturers, blending plants, major distributors, dealers and farmers, so that Nigerians are assured a regular supply of quality fertiliser when they need it.
“In this capacity, we have seen massive growth in the sector, from the number of plants registering with us tripling in the last few years, to the expansion of specific blends created by our members”, he said.
Addressing data gaps
VIFAA in its project overview said, while new data collection is not a central focus of the program, it said some decision-making processes require the use of data that do not currently exist.
“Simultaneous to developing dashboards using existing data, VIFAA will also be working to identify and fill priority data gaps.
On partnership exploration, it said VIFAA will explore different approaches and partnerships for filling these data gaps, including partnering with the private-sector, non-governmental organisations or government institutions.
It however said its data innovation fund is making investments to increase the data supply that provides the intelligence needed to support decisions prioritised by key public and private sector stakeholders, which can improve country-level fertiliser use and performance on the AU Agriculture Transformation
Unlocking fertiliser industry potential
While progress has been made in the last few years to unlock the enormous potentials of the fertiliser industry, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ernest Umakhihe said the private sector has been positioned to drive the industry through the complete liberalisation of the sector and the banning of importation of finished mineral fertilisers containing two or three of the fertiliser elements – nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium from entering into the country.
According to him, this has to a greater extent helped the domestication of the blending of NPK Fertiliser in Nigeria.
“The National Fertiliser Quality (Control) (NFQC) Act, 2019, and the regulations were signed to further strengthen the Industry”.
Umakhihe said the implementation of the fertiliser Act and the regulations have commenced with the registration of operators.
He added the ministry has started developing a system that would capture production, sales, carryover stocks, price collection, lab assessments, upgrades, among others.
To facilitate swift data collection, he said the ministry has established the fertiliser Inspectorate Unit which will in addition to working as foot soldiers in the implementation of the fertiliser Act and regulations at the state level, will also be collecting fertiliser data.
“This effort has been boosted with the coming of the VIFAA Nigeria Dashboard which can harness and analyze data from different sources aside from the ministry.
“Nigeria’s biggest economic sector is agriculture and it accounts for the greatest percentage of employment in the country. Agriculture is intricately linked with many sectors of the Nigerian economy and is essential for a broad-based growth necessary for development.
“The Ministry is desirous of using a disciplined approach to build an agribusiness ecosystem that will close the gaps identified in the agricultural sector and the private sector, which has been prioritized as an engine to drive the growth of the sector.
“To be successful in our mandate, using evidence is essential to shaping our policymaking. Nigeria presently needs accurate, adequate and timely fertilizer information to help farmers, decision-makers and the general stakeholders in the planning and implementation of agricultural projects and programs”, he said.
Legislative support
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu while explaining why he sponsored the National Fertiliser Quality Control Bill,said Nigeria has shifted from an importer of the product to a force to be reckoned with in domestic production and blending, adding that the government needs to ensure that the farmer gets what they are paying for.
Adamu said Nigerian farmers have suffered economic hardship due to adulterated fertiliser.
“When there is no seed there is no plant and when you don’t have fertiliser, there is no way to enrich the soil to give what you are growing.
“The private sector in Nigeria is awakening in this space. In regards to urea, Nigeria has become a global leader in the production of nitrogen fertiliser thanks to expanded investments.
“Our partnership with Morocco under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, is further addressing a critical need for the product raw material by providing phosphorus, so that local blending plants can take advantage of our nitrogen”, he said.
While noting that the Federal government has long removed itself from the days where it would announce tenders for fertiliser, he said the private sector has admirably taken on the responsibility to produce and supply fertilizer.
“We, as part of the legislative branch of government, need data to make informed decisions. The fertiliser sector is one of the critical inputs where the government needs to draw from such rich information to make sure we are creating the necessary enabling environment to ensure that our nation’s farmers are able to maximize production”, he added.
Furthermore, the Chairman, House Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, Honorable Munir Babba Danaqundi said, as a lawmaker he would ensure sound policies are in place to ensure sustainable agricultural and economic development especially through the availability of data and information, with a focus on agricultural research institutions.
“This historical data will not only ensure that the VIFAA dashboard will be a great resource for students, research fellows and members of the agricultural academia, but it is also a necessary jumpstart for potential expansion in research and data priorities for the agricultural and fertilizer sector in Nigeria.
To that end, in the coming months, I hope to work closely with the VIFAA partners to support training and dissemination of this dashboard and data across research colleges and agricultural institutions across Nigeria.
“As a lawmaker and Chairman of the House committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, it is my direct mandate to ensure sound policies are in place to ensure sustainable agricultural and economic development especially through the availability of data and information, with a focus on agricultural research institutions”.
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