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Feed the Future Enhancing Growth through Regional Agricultural Input Systems (EnGRAIS) Project for West Africa aims to increase the availability and use of fertilizers that are appropriate and affordable for smallholder farmers in West Africa.
The Feed the Future EnGRAIS Project is one of the many assistance programs supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Project partners include the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), West Africa Fertilizer Association (WAFA), and other relevant private sector organizations.
The project seeks to promote a competitive, inclusive, and private sector-led, regional fertilizer market.
The Feed the Future EnGRAIS project (2018-2026) works particularly with African-led institutions to develop well-functioning private sector-led fertilizer markets at regional and national levels through, among other things, support to private sector associations like WAFA. Such markets will ensure the supply of quality fertilizer at affordable prices so they can be accessed by farmers.
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Goals Met
- Awarded an $8 million buy-in to implement the Feed the Future Senegal Dundel Suuf project and built the capacity of WAFA.
- Conducted a comprehensive study of Ghana’s fertilizer value chain.
- Published and updated the West Africa Fertilizer Business Information Map and the online Fertilizer and Seed Recommendations for West Africa Map (FeSeRWAM).
- More than 950 agro-input packages (AIPs) have been disseminated, covering 26 crops across various agroecologies, reaching more than 500,000 smallholders.
- The Dundël Suuf buy-in has mapped soil nutrient deficiencies in Senegal for the first time and developed 16 new balanced fertilizer formulations for greater nutrient use efficiency, soil health, and resilient production systems for smallholder farmers in Senegal.
Strengthening the West Africa Fertilizer Market
The project seeks to promote a competitive, inclusive, and private sector-led, regional fertilizer market. This will be strengthened through increasing the management capacity and sustainability of WAFA and other relevant regional private sector organizations/associations and industry actors collaborating through multi-stakeholder platforms to improve supply chain efficiency and improve fertilizer affordability.
Providing Input Recommendations and Packages
In cooperation with CORAF, the Feed the Future EnGRAIS Project will develop and provide regional and national decisionmakers with critical input packages, including fertilizer, seed, and good agricultural practice recommendations for key crops and agroecological zones (AEZs) across the sub-region and delivery strategies to ensure that these inputs are adopted and effective in improving agricultural productivity in the sub-region.
Facilitating Implementation of Fertilizer Regulations
The project will facilitate the development of an enabling policy environment that applies the ECOWAS regional fertilizer regulations and standards that Member States largely adopted under the Feed the Future EnGRAIS Project’s predecessor, the USAID West Africa Fertilizer Program (WAFP). The project will also promote the use of the Regional Fertilizer Subsidy Guide initially developed under WAFP to reform national-level fertilizer subsidy programs and to stimulate commercial activity and investment in the sector.
Mobilizing and Engaging Key Stakeholders at National and Sub-National Levels
The Feed the Future EnGRAIS Project includes a mechanism for USAID bilateral missions, if they choose, to buy into the project to enable it to directly support additional development and facilitation of the inputs sector in their respective countries. Such buy-ins will enable the Feed the Future EnGRAIS Project to mobilize commitment and harmonize engagement with key fertilizer stakeholders across West Africa through activities in individual countries. These activities may include development/strengthening of fertilizer business associations and agro-dealer networks, development and marketing/implementation of improved input recommendations and packages and application technologies, harmonization with and implementation of regional fertilizer regulations and reform of fertilizer subsidy programs to conform with regional guidance.
Impact
Quarterly Newsletters
Associated Publications
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