Nigeria: As Notore Eyes African Markets

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Vanguard (Lagos)

8 August 2008
Posted to the web 8 August 2008

Daniel Gumm
Lagos

Nigeria, which has the lowest fertilizer utilisation per hectare, per annum in the world has engaged the attention of a company - Notore Fertilizer and Chemical Company Ltd., and the company says soon that would change with its production of the product and other high grade inputs and make them available in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Caroline Okafor of the Corporate Communications department, who disclosed this recently also said Notere had taken up the position of being the champion of the African Green Revolution, and "when you want to champion the African Green Revolution, we have gone over and above our own product, which is fertilizer but rather understanding the value chain and eliminating all the bottlenecks to ensuring that the food gets from the farmers to the consumers in the right manner at the right price."

She said though "Nigeria, and indeed sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest fertilizer utilisation per hectare, per annum in the world, in which we have people that are extremely poor and hungry, the situation would soon change for the better when Notore begins production.

Her words: "Starvation is at its highest in this part of the world and that is because we are not capable of feeding ourselves. Nigeria has the lowest utilisation of fertilizer in the world. In Nigeria, a farmer is using about 8 -10kg of fertilizer per, hectate per annum, when best practices should be as high as 200kg per hectare, per annum."

"Some countries actually use about 300kg/hectare/annum. There is a link between increase in crop output and the application of fertilizer. Notore's major goal is to help fix that problem, and that is why we maintain that our company is championing the African Green Revolution by making high grade inputs available.

So with key inputs as fertilizer and fertilizer respondent seeds, which guarantee multiple planting seasons as well as increase in total crop output per annum and crop protection products which help in ensuring that the rodents do not destroy your farm, we believe we hold the key to Africa's green revolution."

Notore, according to her, "acquired the assets of the former NAFCON, in Onne, Rivers State. We have been through a-two and half year refurbishment process and from September this year, will start producing fertilizer - first for Nigeria and for the rest of Africa. We are going to be producing MPK and Urea, which I am sure everybody knows that these are the most responded fertilizers or one of the responding core to fertilizer."

She pointed out that when production commences and with "sales of our products, that we would have very good customers among the right farmers."

On the challenges of coordinating farmers into achieving the goals, she said that on the side of the private sector, and especially the "banks, they also have problems trying to understand the actual people to speak with," adding: "Before consolidation, we all know that the banking sector would prefer to deal with high networth client, because the cost of administration was less for them. But they have realised post-consolidation that there is no where else to go but the retail market and the retail market is you and I."

She stressed that Notore has nine financial institutions investing in the organisation. "They know that fertilizer cannot be eaten by Notore, rather it will be used by the farmers, who will sell their produce so that we can get the food to eat," emphasising that the main concern of Notore was "to reach the farmers directly. Notore and the bankers have a very strong concern of reaching the farmers directly.

There have been so many issues on fertilizer and its distribution but I make bold to say that we have set up a world class sales and distribution system as well as a transportation system that would get the fertilizer to the farmers."

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