In Nigeria, Sustain Africa is supporting the government with advisory services around three main pillars:
Second a technical expert to the government to develop and execute on plans to use a donation of fertilizer brokered by WFP: The expert is advising on suitable blends and monitor blending operations as well as support the government in tracking progress. The aim is to reach 1 million maize, soyabean and rice farmers through the blended stock.
Support the development and strengthening of public-private sector partnerships and platforms: Sustain Africa is supporting and leading the convening of zonal dialogue platforms bringing together private and public actors and research at the state and national levels focus on issues around food security, productivity and yield. The platforms will serve as a knowledge sharing and institutional mechanism for information gathering by government ensuring private sector voice is heard and captured in the design and implementation of policies and programs.
Support system-strengthening and improved results-based impact reporting on social inventions by government: Given the size of the country, aligning and strengthening systems is imperative to ensure sustainable growth. To maximize impact within the project timeframe, AFAP will focus on supporting the new government in setting up monitoring and impact assessment mechanisms to support the tracking of fertilizer distribution.
Overview of the situation in Nigeria
Nigeria has a total population of 218,541,212 with 38 million being smallholder farmers. The country has a total land mass of 923,800sq km of land of which 60million hectares of are arable lands. In the past decade 7 million worth of private sector investment in the agriculture sector of Nigeria with about 95% (6.6 billion) of these investments coming from the fertilizer sector e.g. Blending facilities, warehousing, logistics. Based on Abuja declaration (which is even below some global standards but achievable in the near term), it would require about 913 million USD to be invested in fertilizer trade annuallyFood insecurity remains a core challenge in Nigeria. According to UNICEF nearly 25 million Nigerians are at risk of facing hunger between June and December 2023 if urgent action is not taken. The most recent national food security surveillance data provided by the food security and nutrition sectors showed that 43 per cent of households across national food specially Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) having inadequate food consumption due to. Rising prices of staple foods and low poor economic conditions have compounded the situation.Fertilizer per capital consumption currently fluctuates between 6.1 to 20kg/ha depending on the state or geographic zone. The government has been heavily involved in the supply of fertilizer to farmers through tenders, subsidies, and importations. During this time, the private sector was often considered a middleman. Domestic urea plant capacity has grown from approximately 500,000 MT per annum to current capacity of over 6,000,000 MT per annum. In the past, fertilizer consumption would spike around the national election cycle as the supply would be tied to government issued tenders. There are 75 established blending facilities in Nigeria out of which 58 are currently operational with a potential production capacity of 3.2 million tonnes.