Fertilizer Access Grows Farmers, Food and Finance

Smallholder farmers prosper if they have access to knowledge and use of inputs such as fertilizers and credit. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPSBy Busani BafanaLOUIS TRICHARDT, South Africa, Jul 26 2016 (IPS)Brightly coloured cans, bags of fertilizer and packets containing all types of seeds catch the eye upon entering Nancy Khorommbi’s agro dealer shop tucked at the corner of a roadside service station.But her seeds and fertilizers have not exactly been flying off the shelves since Khorommbi opened the fledging shop six years ago. Her customers: smallholder farmers in the laid back town of Sibasa, 72 kilometers northeast of Louis Trichardt in Limpopo, one of South Africa’s provinces hard hit by drought this year. The reason for the slow business is that smallholder farmers cannot access, let alone effectively use plant-nourishing fertilizers to improve their low productivity.“Some of the farmers who walk into my shop have never heard about fertilizers and those who have, do not know how to use them effectively,” Khorommbi told IPS said on the sidelines of a training workshop organised by the International Fertilizer Association (IFA)-supported African Fertilizer Volunteers Program (AFVP) to teach smallholders farmers and agro dealers like her about fertilizers in Limpopo.Khorommbi, describing information as power, says fledging agro-dealer businesses are a critical link in the food production chain. Agro-dealers, who work at the village level, better understand and are more ...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - July 26, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Busani Bafana Tags: Advancing Deserts Africa Aid Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Farming Crisis: Filling An Empty Plate Featured Food & Agriculture Headlines Health Labour Natural Resources Poverty & SDGs Projects TerraViva United Source Type: news