The Managing Director Corporate Strategy and Sustainability, OCP Group, Iliass Elfali, has stressed the need to tackle challenges facing agriculture development on the continent.
He outlined the group’s commitment to strengthening food security.
He spoke at the 14th United states-Africa Business Summit in Marrakech, Morocco.
The event organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), under King Mohammed VI. It had as its theme “Building the future together”.
To ensure the availability and affordability of fertiliser, Elfali recalled that OCP plans to raise production capacity by one million tonnes this year and three million next year.
He highlighted that Africa would continue to be a net importer of food products despite its rich resources if nothing is done to improve soil fertility.
He recalled that agriculture employs a third of Africa’s population and contributes up to 50 per cent of several countries’ gross domestic products(GDPs). Despite this, he noted that population growth and limited availability of arable land have remained major challenges hampering achievement of food security.
Elfali underlined the importance of a common commitment across the entire food value chain.
OCP’s Executive Vice President, Performance Management, Nada El Majdoub, addressed the challenges that the fertiliser industry is facing.
One of such is the high costs of production input which existed prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, Majdoub acknowledged that the war has exacerbated such issues.
Majdoub said smallholder farmers were financially challenged.
She stressed the need for the public sector to place agriculture on the top of its agenda. “That would be enough to come up with a solution,” she argued.
The President, African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, told United States’ investors that Africa is a secure, competitive and profitable market for investment.
Adesina said investors should see Africa as a logical investment destination and to engage with the continent in win-win partnerships.