(Business in Cameroon) - OCP Africa, the agro-oriented subsidiary of the Moroccan OCP Group, announced the renewal of its partnership with Cameroon's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader). The new agreement was signed on February 22 in Yaoundé. It comes to cement the decade-long relationship between Cameroon and the OCP group, the world's leading provider of phosphate-based plant nutrition solutions and fertilizers.

This agreement renews the partnership initiated in November 2018, aimed at enhancing the country's agricultural productivity. OCP Africa commits to "ensuring 100% availability of quality fertilizers without supply disruption" for the upcoming 2024 agricultural campaign. The company will provide "customized fertilizers," specifically designed to suit the soil and crop characteristics using the NPK14 23 14 SB fertilizer. With this product, OCP Africa expects a "remarkable increase in yields, varying from 30 to 50% for cereal and vegetable crops."

On February 20, just two days before signing the new agreement, the company launched a communication and awareness campaign in Obala, 38 km north of Yaoundé, to educate over 200 producers on the benefits of personalized fertilization.

By renewing its partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, OCP Africa also aims to collaborate with the ministry to provide technical and holistic support to farmers by enhancing the ministry staff's capacities, doubling the number of demonstration plots, and contributing to government-led mechanization efforts in agriculture. “From this cooperation, we expect to strengthen Cameroonian agriculture from subsistence to genuinely productive farming that provides decent income for practitioners,” said Gabriel Mbairobe, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, on national television.

Since the inception of this partnership, Cameroon has benefited from capacity building for Ministry of Agriculture officials and the equipping of a mobile laboratory for soil mapping, as reported by official sources. “Together with OCP, we have initiated tests to justify the use of fertilizers in cocoa production. OCP Group has recently developed a fertilizer formula suited to our soils and cereals,” the minister added, praising the South-South cooperation that he believes should be encouraged.

Cameroonian farmers face challenges such as limited access to quality inputs, financing, markets, and information on good agricultural practices, which hinder their ability to improve farm productivity and keep them at a subsistence level. Leveraging OCP Group's extensive experience as the world's leading producer of phosphate-based fertilizers, OCP Africa, which includes OCP Cameroon, was founded in 2016 to support the emergence of sustainable agriculture in Africa, particularly in Cameroon, known for its strong agricultural potential.

To this end, the company is implementing three projects aimed at improving crop productivity and Cameroonian producers' incomes: "School Lab," a mobile school providing interactive information on good agricultural practices tailored to the specific cultures of beneficiary regions; "Agribooster," aimed at developing the value chain; and "Field Trials for Cocoa and Irish Potatoes," which, through field trials, aims to assist farmers in using the right fertilizers and agricultural practices.