Africa Market Special Report (Ⅰ): Decoding Agrochemical Market Potential of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire

Africa, an ancient and mysterious continent with abundant natural resources and vast agricultural land, plays a crucial role in global agricultural production.

As one of the world's most important agricultural producing regions, Africa not only produces a variety of crops such as cocoa, cotton, corn, and rice but has a significant influence in global cash crop productions like cocoa, coffee, cashew nut, and sesame. 

According to the data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as shown in Figure 1, the distribution of the crop harvest area in Africa in 2022 reveals the diversity of agricultural production and the essential food crops on the African continent. Besides food crops like maize, sorghum, and cassava, many other small-scale crops take up a large proportion of crop plantations, which is roughly 42%, totaling 120 million hectares and reflecting the diversity of African agriculture.

Figure 1   Distribution of crop harvest area in Africa in 2022

African agriculture contributes a lot to the local economy, not only providing millions of jobs to Africans but also exporting a lot of agricultural products, which are a significant source of foreign exchange earnings for many countries in Africa. Although the African agricultural labor force is substantial, the inadequate application of technology has limited further productivity improvement.

At present, the use of pesticides in Africa is on a steady upward trend, growing from the use of less than 150,000 tons in 2011 to the use of more than 200,000 tons in 2022. This trend reflects the modernization of African agriculture and the farmer’s increased need to increase crop yield and quality.

Figure 2   Trend of pesticide applications in Africa in 2011-2022 (ton) 

Africa Market Special Report 

• Africa Market Special Report (Ⅰ): Decoding Agrochemical Market Potential of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire

• Africa Market Special Report (Ⅱ): Exploring Innovation Opportunities in Cameroon and South Africa

From various angles, this special report taps into the development and demand changes in the agrochemical industry in the critical regions of Africa, using Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire as the subject of analysis. Part of the information in this article comes from the presentations of Chen Haoran, Purchase Manager of Solevo Group, as delivered at the 2024 China Pesticide Exporting Workshop (CPEW) held in Hangzhou in July 2024. (Note: Some of the data in this article also comes from FAO. Due to the different data sources, the relevant content is only for reference of trends)

Chen Haoran, Purchase Manager, Solevo Group

Agrochemical dynamics and market demand in key countries of Africa

PART01 Ghana: West Africa’s emerging agricultural country

Ghana, a heartland of West Africa, has an agriculture-pillared economy. In recent years, Ghana’s climatic conditions have posed challenges to the country’s agricultural production, where drought and unpredictable rainfall are having an adverse impact on crop yield. Nevertheless, the 2024-2025 climate forecast appears relatively optimistic, with production expected to increase. Ghana’s main crops include maize, cocoa, and vegetables, with cocoa being Ghana’s traditional export commodity, accounting for about 13% of the global production. 

In terms of pesticide use, the Government of Ghana has been actively promoting its ″responsible pesticide use practice,″ aiming to improve the regulatory framework to have a better administration of pesticides. In 2019, Ghana imported crop protection products worth US$230 million, mainly herbicides and insecticides, of which imported herbicides took up 47%, valued at $110 million, while imported insecticides took up 36%, valued at $80 million. In 2023, the import of crop protection products amounted to $348 million.

According to FAO data, as shown in Figure 3, pesticide use in Ghana increased from 2,000 tons in 2011 to nearly 10,000 tons in 2017, which remained stable from 2017 to 2022. As shown by the amount of use in 2022, fungicides and herbicides were the major products for application. At present, the local mainstream pesticides include glyphosate, 2,4-D, nicosulfuron, pyrethrins, acetamiprid, mancozeb, and copper formulations.

Figure 3   Trend of pesticide applications in Ghana in 2011-2022 (ton)

In terms of pesticide registration, data from the Ministry of Agriculture of Ghana, as per Figure 4, shows that up to December 2023, 1,038 pesticide registrations were granted in Ghana, including 1,026 chemical pesticide registrations and 12 biopesticide registrations. The data show that chemical pesticides have dominated Ghanaian agriculture. At the same time, the use of biopesticides has started, reflecting the country’s advancement towards a more sustainable approach to pesticide application. The 1,026 chemical pesticide registrations include 507 herbicides, 355 insecticides, 130 fungicides, and others, where herbicide and insecticide registrations took up a large proportion, with herbicides taking up half of the registrations.

Figure 4  Chemical pesticide registrations in Ghana up to December 2023

Details of registrations (Figure 5 - 8)

• Among the insecticide registrations, lambda-cyhalothrin sees the most significant number of registrations in terms of the active ingredient, with 64 registrations, followed by acetamiprid, emamectin benzoate, imidacloprid, and cypermethrin.

  
  

• Regarding the herbicide registrations, glyphosate ammonium has the most significant number of registrations in terms of the active ingredient, with 119 registrations, followed by 2,4-D ammonium salt, atrazine, nicosulfuron, and paraquat dichloride.

  
  

• With regard to fungicide registrations, mancozeb has the most significant number of registrations in terms of active ingredient, with 25 registrations, followed by metalaxyl, azoxystrobin, copper hydroxide, and difenoconazole.

  
  

• Among the registration types of formulations, EC, SL, and WP have a larger number of registrations.

Figure 5  Top 10 insecticidal active ingredient registrations in Ghana

Figure 6  Top 10 herbicidal active ingredient registrations in Ghana

Figure 7  Top 10 fungicidal active ingredient registrations in Ghana

Figure 8  Top 10 pesticidal formulation types in Ghana

Furthermore, Ghana approved 14 GM crops at the end of February 2024, all of which are Bayer’s corn and soybean products. At the same time, the country is faced with specific agricultural challenges, which include outdated technology and low levels of agricultural mechanization, climate change, which leads to unstable rainfall affecting crop yield, and serious insect pests and diseases, which are a particular threat to cocoa and cereal crops.

PART02 Cote d'Ivoire: Agricultural development of a cocoa-producing country

Cote d'Ivoire, located in West Africa, has an advantage in terms of agricultural conditions. Its well-balanced year-round sunshine and average annual temperature between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius provide desirable climatic conditions in favor of the growth of tropical crops. The country has an arable land area of about 8.02 million hectares, which offers broad prospects for agricultural development. Cote d'Ivoire has a wide variety of farm products, including cotton, cocoa, cashew nuts, coffee, palm oil, and maize. Among them, the production output of cocoa and cashew nuts ranks first in the world, while the output of palm oil ranks in the top 5 in the world. These agricultural products are not only the pillars of Cote d'Ivoire’s agricultural economy but are also an essential source of the country's export earnings.

In 2022, Cote d'Ivoire produced 2.3588 million tons of cocoa, of which 1.473 million tons were exported; the cashew nut production output and export volume reached respectively 1.0282 million tons and 778,700 tons; the coffee production output and export volume were respectively 94,900 tons and 54,500 tons. The total cocoa and coffee took up 15% of the country’s GDP and half of its gross exports. In addition, Cote d'Ivoire implements a franchise system for cotton production, having achieved a cotton output of 471,700 tons in 2022, which makes the country the 3rd largest cotton-producing country in Africa.

In terms of demand for agrochemical products, Cote d'Ivoire imports a certain amount of crop protection products, with $200 million worth of imports in 2019, being primarily herbicides and insecticides, of which herbicides accounted for $126 million, and insecticides accounted for $50 million. In 2023, $286 million worth of crop protection products were imported. According to FAO data, as shown in Figure 9, pesticide use in Cote d'Ivoire fell from less than 50 tons in 2011 to around 20 tons in 2022 after years of fluctuations. It is reported that the local mainstream pesticides are glyphosate, 2,4-D, nicosulfuron, lambda-cyhalothrin, bifenthrin, acetamiprid, mancozeb, and copper formulations.

Figure 9  Trend of pesticide applications in Cote d'Ivoire in 2011-2022 (ton)

In terms of pesticide registration, according to CSP data (Figure 10), up to December 2023, Cote d'Ivoire granted a total of 595 pesticide registrations, including 580 chemical pesticide registrations and 15 biological pesticide registrations. Among the 15 biopesticide registrations, there are four biofungicides, ten bioinsecticides and one bioacaricide. The 580 chemical pesticide registrations include 237 herbicides, 252 insecticides, 48 fungicides, and others, of which herbicide and insecticide registrations took up a large proportion.

Figure 10  Chemical pesticide registrations in Cote d'Ivoire up to December 2023

Details of registrations (Figure 11-14)

• Among the insecticide registrations, acetamiprid has the largest number of registrations in terms of the active ingredient, with 53 registrations, followed by emamectin benzoate, lambda-cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, and indoxacarb.

  
  

• Out of the herbicide registrations, glyphosate has the most significant number of registrations among active ingredients, with 67 registrations, followed by nicosulfuron, haloxyfop-P, pendimethalin, and 2,4-D.

  
  

• In terms of fungicide registrations, thiram has the most significant number of registrations among the active ingredients, with 17 registrations, followed by azoxystrobin, mancozeb, metalaxyl-M, and tebuconazole.

  
  

• Among the registration types of formulations, EC, SC, and SL have the most significant number of registrations.

Figure 11  Top 10 insecticidal active ingredient registrations in Cote d'Ivoire

Figure 12  Top 10 herbicidal active ingredient registrations in Cote d'Ivoire

Figure 13  Top 10 fungicidal active ingredient registrations in Cote d'Ivoire

Figure 14  Top 10 pesticidal formulation types in Cote d'Ivoire

Moreover, agriculture in Cote d'Ivoire also faces a number of challenges. One of them is the aging of cocoa trees, which has seriously affected the yield and quality; the frequent drought and heavy rainstorms caused by climate change, which has posed a threat to agricultural production; and the smallholder farmers that lack modern agricultural, technological, and financial support. The Government of Cote d'Ivoire is taking measures to tackle these challenges by increasing the productivity and risk resistance of smallholder farmers via the provision of technical support and financial aid.

This article was originally published in AgroPages magazine 2024 Market Insight. Download to read more.