Press Release
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Contacts: Daniel Nana Sei Mensah dmensah@ifdc.org (+221) 762322026/ (+233) 26 97 41128; Emmanuel Alognikou ealognikou@ifdc.org (+221) 770967287/ (+228) 90327660
The West Africa Fertilizer Program (USAID WAFP), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), is organizing, from February 7-8, 2017, the 2nd Regional Technical Experience-Sharing Workshop on the Conditions for the Implementation of Regulation C/REG.13/12/12 relating to the control of fertilizer quality within the ECOWAS region at the Hotel Neptune in Mbour, Senegal.
This workshop will bring together delegates from Ministries of Agriculture of the fifteen ECOWAS member States as well as Chad, Mauritania and the West African private fertilizer sector, represented by the West Africa Fertilizer Association (WAFA).
This workshop, which follows the one held in Abuja, Nigeria, on May 21 to 22, 2016, aims at sensitizing countries to align with regional arrangements and to share experiences and best practices in order to accelerate the implementation of the regional legal framework that is harmonized in different countries and at sharing key issues and lessons learned from piloted regulatory actions and case studies.
It must be recalled that Regulation C/REG.13/12/12 relating to fertilizer quality control in the ECOWAS region was adopted by the Council of Ministers of ECOWAS Member States at its Sixty-Ninth Ordinary Session held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on December 2, 2012. Its aim is to:
- Safeguard the interests of farmers against nutrient deficiencies, adulteration, misleading claims and short weight.
- Safeguard the interests of fertilizer enterprises and contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for private sector investment in the fertilizer industry.
- Protect the West African natural environment and its population against the potential dangers associated with inappropriate fertilizer use.
- Facilitate inter- and intra-State trade in fertilizers, through the implementation of principles and rules mutually agreed at the regional level to dismantle trade barriers.
Over a period of two days, the delegates will have the opportunity to interact on the challenges that delay the effective implementation of the regulation and to learn from each other’s experiences in order to make progress.
Various side meetings have been scheduled and will allow for the discussion of specific implementation-related issues in certain countries.
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IFDC is a public international organization addressing critical issues such as international food security, the alleviation of global hunger and poverty, environmental protection and the promotion of economic development and self-sufficiency, through the use of agricultural technologies including fertilizers and other inputs.
The West Africa Fertilizer Program (USAID WAFP) is financed by USAID and implemented by IFDC with technical support from AFAP and in partnership with ECOWAS. USAID WAFP tackles the main challenges facing the fertilizer sector in West Africa in the fields of supply, distribution and appropriate fertilizer usage, as well as in the fields of policy and regulatory reforms or access to information in markets.
