AgroPages-OCP, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and IFDC sign fertilizer solution agreement-Agricultural news

OCP Group, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), have announced a multi-year partnership to collaborate on the engineering of new fertilizer technologies, improvement of crop and soil specific fertilizer recommendations, development of value chains and market systems, and research and implementation of fertilizer systems to benefit African farmers.

The partnership was announced, on 11 April in Washington DC, at the signing of a master agreement between OCP’s chairman and CEO, Mr Mostafa Terrab and IFDC’s president and CEO, Mr Albin Hubscher.

“This important partnership with IFDC confirms and advances our ambition to mobilise world-class resources in research and innovation for the benefit of Africa in general and African smallholder farmers in particular. We believe that this programme has the potential to transform our continent’s fertilizer industry and we are pleased to embark on this journey with IFDC”, OCP’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. Mostafa Terrab, said.

“This partnership will accelerate the development and large-scale production of more efficient fertilizers to increase smallholder productivity and incomes while respecting the environment,” Hubscher said. “The partnership is unique because it invests in a public good: the next generation of African scientists and professionals to drive the growth of the agriculture sector and feed the continent.”

The master agreement outlined collaboration areas in which the OCP–UM6P–IFDC consortium will undertake projects with the ultimate aim of boosting African agriculture and farmer livelihoods through innovative fertilizers that meet the specific needs of the African soil and socio-economic conditions for sustainable development.

The partnership utilises the unique abilities of the consortium members to combine research and education with implementation under real life conditions. The collaboration areas will be mutually reinforcing, develop science-based interventions, produce a large body of scientific publications, and create the next generation of trans-disciplinary trained scientists who can bridge the gap between science and implementation.