economics, policy and value chains: making a little go a long way: examining the economic viability...
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Making a little go a long wayExamining the economic viability of fertilizer microdosing in Northwestern Benin
International Food Security Dialogue:Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and Nutritional Security in a Changing WorldEdmonton, Alberta May 2, 2014
Erika Bachmann
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Project Background• Limited crop production throughout the Sahel
due to poor soil fertility and frequent droughts
• An element of food insecurity among subsistence farmers
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INuWaM Project• Integrated Nutrient and Water Management
Project
• Collaborative IDRC funded CIFSRF research project between research centres and universities in West Africa and Canada
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Project Background• Four project countries in West Africa: Benin, Mali, Niger
and Burkina Faso
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INuWaM Project Aim
• To research and promote the use of the technique of fertilizer “microdosing” in combination with indigenous rainwater harvesting techniques, so as to increase household income and ultimately, food security
Oneacrefund.org
• Maximize return on investment for resource constrained, risk averse farmers
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Fertilizer Microdosing
©ICRISAT
• An alternative for fertilizer recommendations aimed at maximizing yields or profit
• Fertilizer microdosing: Using small* quantities of fertilizer at specified times
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Rainwater HarvestingIncrease soil moisture, reduce erosion, trap organic matter,
reduce the speed of the water
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A Multidisciplinary approach• Soil scientists looking into soil degradation, crop
response, long term sustainability and interaction between RWH techniques and microdosing
• Social scientists (agricultural economists, rural sociologists, anthropologists) investigating the social and economic context
• Together, a more complete picture of the impact on farmers’ lives
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Project Implementation- Benin• 20 demonstration farmers in each village
• Two demonstration plots per farmer: one microdosing technique, one conventional technique
• Maize crop
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Socio-economic research in Benin
• Focused on one project site in North-western Benin
• In depth household surveys for every household in the village
• Soil samples taken for plots of each household
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Research Questions
• What factors influence the profitability of microdosing?
• What micro-level factors influence the adoption of microdosing?
• How does the macro level context affect microdosing?
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VALUE CHAIN APPROACH
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Maize Value Chain in West Africa
Boone et al. (2008) USAID ATP
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IDENTIFYING CONSTRAINTSExamining low input use
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Cost of fertilizer • Subsidized, but relatively expensive for resource
constrained farmers
• Liquidity problem-farmers need to buy fertilizer during the lean time, when money is short
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Access to credit• Emphasis on group borrowing
• Willingness to borrow money
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Availability of fertilizer • Timing
• Infrastructure
• Priority groups
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Transportation
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National Policies
• Government of Benin priorities
• Togo government policies regarding fertilizer sale to non-Togolese
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Microdosing as part of the solution?
• Early findings suggest microdosing can provide acceptable yields for farmers, given a minimum level of soil fertility
• Potential to minimize cost and maximize return on investment-address the high cost of fertilizer for poor farmers
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Complementary investments
• Importance of increasing organic matter in soil
• Investment into inventory credit shops to address credit constraint and liquidity problem
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Where to from here• Investigation into the profitability of microdosing as a
function of soil quality
• Micro and macro factors influencing adoption of microdosing
• Long term sustainability investigation by soil scientists
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Thank you to the IDRC for sponsoring, and the University of Alberta for hosting, the International
Food Security Dialogue, 2014