Experts have stated that the 30m metric tons of Urea being flared annually in Nigeria can be converted to enormous raw material that will go a long way to boost fertiliser production in Nigeria.
The experts drawn from the organised private sector and some top government functionaries in the fertilizer sub sector in Abuja also alleged that the effort of the present government to boost agriculture with the hope of achieving self-sufficiency in
food production may have been threatened with limited use of fertilizer.
It was revealed that crop yield which is solely the determinant factor of food security can be largely determined by the rate of fertiliser consumption, especially in Africa due to the effects of climate change.
This was part of the revelation that emerged from the Nigeria fertiliser road map stakeholders consultation meeting in Abuja recently.
One of the experts, Mr. Paul Makepeace who is Senior Fertiliser Specialist at the African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) one of the major organiser of the meeting noted that urea is a potential raw material that can be used in developing the fertiliser sector.
The experts, drawn from both the public and private sectors converged also to evaluate measures for a better result and more efficiency in the fertiliser sector.
According to reports, Nigeria still ranks very low in fertiliser consumption when compared with other African countries, which unfortunately, the experts said is not good for the agriculture rebirth effort.
While speaking to Journalists at the sideline of the event, the Vice President, African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) Prof. Richard Mkandawire stated that despite the huge investment by the private sector in Nigeria, fertilizer consumption is still low when compared with other African countries.
“Our commitment is to increase usage of fertilizer among more farmers across Africa, and Nigeria is a place where there is potentials for more efficient usage of fertilizer”, he said.
He identified movement of fertilizer from one location to another as one of the major challenges impeding the success of the industry in Nigeria.
“But the challenge is how you would begin to really move the fertilizer to the farmer, that’s why it is critical that we begin also to look at how to get government to support small and medium enterprises that can reach more rural farmers better “ he added.
According to Mkandawire, building confidence in the private sector investors, through enabling environment policies was key to the development of the industry.
