This is one of a series of case studies developed by WBCSD and the Just Rural Transition to examine how large agribusinesses empower and engage SME suppliers and stakeholders to reach their sustainability goals. These examine the business case for supplier empowerment; what good policy looks like; and challenges and solutions involved in engaging suppliers. The cases identify best practices around how procurement can support a company’s sustainability priorities and performance. Click here for a synthesis that identifies key themes and recommended action from the series of case studies.
Background and business case
Empowering agricultural stakeholders
OCP Africa is a subsidiary of the OCP Group, a leading global provider of phosphate and its derivatives, including fertilizers. Created in 2016 to contribute to the sustainable development of African agriculture, OCP Africa develops fertilizers that are customized to local conditions and crop requirements.
Based in Morocco, the company is present in 16 countries across the continent. It works with farming communities, and other stakeholders in government, non-profit groups and other companies, to connect farmers to the agricultural services, knowledge and resources that they need to thrive.
This in turn, helps develop new markets for OCP Africa as the empowered farmers have greater need for the fertilizers and associated products and services the company provides
Solution: From subsistence agriculture to agribusiness
Becoming world leaders in sustainable agriculture
With a commitment to helping African agriculture at a time of great potential, OCP Africa works with smallholder farmers to move from subsistence agriculture to a more profitable and sustainable agribusiness approach. The company believes that African growers can become world leaders in sustainable farming, using local resources to realize the continent’s potential – not least to feed its growing population.
The company provides education on crops and soils, and assisting farmers identify financial solutions and to develop the business skills that they need to compete in globalized agricultural marketplaces.
Case study: Agribooster program to develop farmer skills and resources
Focus on farm productivity and access to finance
OCP Africa’s flagship Agribooster program is designed to provide farmers with support for every aspect of the agricultural value chain. Agribooster aims to enhance farm productivity through a number of different innovations.
The program provides access to farm inputs, including fertilizers, seeds and crop protection products, and access to best practice use of these inputs via local extension agents. Farmers are connected to financing and insurance opportunities, and access to competitive markets. They are also offered training in business as well as good agricultural practices.
Agribooster has impacted 850,000 smallholder farmers across maize, rice, millet and sorghum value chains in Ghana, Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya. On average, crop yields on the farms involved in the program have increased 33%.
Women in Agribooster – empowering marginalized women farmers
Historically women farmers have been marginalized and had less access to the skills and resources that Agribooster has been set up to deliver. At the same time, the participation and empowerment of women is widely accepted as being an essential part of agricultural transformation in Africa.
OCP Africa’s Women in Agribooster initiative has used the Agribooster program to specifically engage 25,000 women in Ghana and Nigeria since 2017. To boost productivity and farm incomes, the program enables access for women farmers specifically to quality inputs and finance, training on best practices, extension services and to new markets for their produce.
Access to machinery when required
Some initiatives in Ghana have enabled women farmers to gain access to farm machinery via an on-demand mobile platform. This connects farmers to tractor and other machinery operators and suppliers and means they have access to the right machinery support for their farms when they need it.
In addition, women field officers have been recruited to provide in the field and classroom-based training to those taking part in the Women in Agribooster program. Indicating the improvements that can be made, in some cases farm yields per hectare have more than doubled.
Summary
To enable African farmers to become world leaders in sustainable farming, OCP Africa works with stakeholders to enable transition from subsistence farming to an agribusiness approach. The company’s Agribooster program provides access to inputs, services and support that empowers farm growth. The program has a focus on women farmers, leading to a doubling of yields in some cases.