Moroccan firm, OCP Group, has donated 15,000 tonnes of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers, a development that will support the country’s fertiliser use and increase farm productivity efforts, according to Gerardine Mukeshimana, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources.

Mukeshimana made the observations on Saturday, July 16, while speaking to The New Times.

At the time of the interview, she was visiting the construction site of the fertiliser blending factory in Bugesera District to assess its progress, along with other officials including Mohamed Anouar Jamali, CEO of OCP Africa.

OCP Group is one of the leading exporters of phosphorus fertilisers in the world.

This contribution, she said, is important especially in this period when fertiliser costs are high, mainly as a result of two factors; the war involving Russia and Ukraine and the rising transport costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Russia and Ukraine are the leading potash fertiliser exporters. Their conflict triggered an increase in prices of natural gas [one of the key ingredients in fertiliser manufacturing]. 

"We are fortunate that our friends from OCP have donated 15,000 tonnes of DAP fertilisers. That is something being injected into the sector,” Mukeshimana said.

Of that committed amount, Mukeshimana explained that 10,000 tonnes are going to be used as a strategic fertiliser reserve.

"That means we have a stock of fertilisers and whenever there is a need, we can be able to inject it into the farming community,” she said.

For the remaining 5,000 tonnes, she said it is going to be a free starting stock of the fertiliser blending plant to support the launch of its production of adapted fertilisers.

Also, OCP Group committed to supply Rwanda with additional 17,000 tonnes DAP fertilisers at a discounted price.

This is part of the Group’s initiative to empower African farmers and ensure African food sovereignty, the Minister indicated.

"We believe that smallholder farmers are integral to the agricultural sector in Rwanda. With the repercussions of the Ukraine war on fertiliser prices and effects of drought in Eastern Africa, the situation may be unbearable for smallholder farmers and disastrous for food security,” said Mohamed Anouar Jamali, CEO of OCP Africa.

According to prices announced in January this year by the Ministry, imported DAP reached Rwanda costing Rwf1,435 a kilogramme (without the Government subsidy of Rwf603 or 42 percent of the cost).

As such, the committed 15,000 tonnes (or 15 million kilogrammes) of DAP are worth about Rwf21 billion.

In the current fiscal year, RAB targeted to distribute at least 3,430 tonnes of quality seeds, 50,179 tonnes of fertilisers amid the rising costs of this farm input, as well as 37,736 tonnes of lime with Government subsidy.

Meanwhile, the average fertiliser use in Rwanda rose from 32 kilogrammes per hectare in 2017 to 60 kilogrammes per hectare in 2021, Prime Minister, Edouard Ngirente told parliamentarians in April this year.

Update on the fertiliser blending facility

Back to the abovementioned Bugesera-based factory, its investment is estimated at $38 million (about Rwf39 billion) and it is expected to have a capacity to blend 100,000 tonnes of fertilisers per year, according to data from the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB).

It is a joint venture involving OCP Group and the Government of Rwanda.

"We hope that by May next year, we will be launching it (the factory), and to be providing appropriate fertilisers according to the type of soils and according to the crop needs,” the Minister said, indicating that it is in the context of increasing the country’s agricultural productivity.

Jamali said, "Our joint venture –Rwanda Fertiliser Company (RFC) – to manufacture blended fertilisers and our cooperation projects shows our commitment to developing the agricultural sector.”