http://www.countrystat.org Improving access to statistics on fertilizers: make CountrySTAT the [new] preferred official source of fertilizer data!

1. To feed our people, we must first feed our soil
Olusegun Obasanjo | Africa Fertilizer Summit – Abuja, June 2006
Patrice ANNEQUIN IFDC, programme coordinator | CountrySTAT Consultative Meeting| Casablanca 12/2013
CountrySTAT & AfricaFertilizer.org
partnership

2.  Who we are & what we do
 Partnership with CountrySTAT in SSA
 The Fertilizer Technical Working Groups
 Achievements, lessons learnt and way forward
AfricaFertilizer.org
Slow growth of fertilizer
consumption in Africa
2004: 8 kg/ha/year
2011: 12 kg/ha/year (est.)
2015: 50 kg/ha/year ?
Africa Fertilizer Summit Abuja 2006
Fertilizer market in Africa
at a glance
Africa: @ 3% of world market
SSA : @ 10% of Africa market
2013–2018 demand +3,1% p.a
IFA 2013

3. From aggregation and dissemination
of existing information on fertilizers
(2009-2011) to support to partners,
programs and activities that increase
availability and quality of such
information (2012-2015)
Our key partner: CountrySTAT
Led by IFDC
Funded by AFAP, IFA and IFDC
Supported by FAO and AUC/NEPAD
From a web portal to a programme

4. • All African countries [SSA]
• All free content
• Portal developed in Ghana
• Managed by IFDC
www.AfricaFertilizer.org
Milestones
• 2006 Africa Fertilizer Summit
• 2009 web portal by IFDC
• 2010 IFA Africa Forum Paris
• 2011 2012-2015 programme
• 2012 FAO CountrySTAT partnership
• 2013 IFA 5 year Africa Strategy
Main content
• Data [FAOSTAT + IFA + IFDC + CS]
• Publications [1,500 +]
• Market news [RSS, Facebook, Twitter]
• Policies [2012, 35 countries]
• Directories [2013, 2500 entries]

5. What are we monitoring ?
primary focus:
FERTILIZER STATISTICS
• Production
– Primary (mining + manuf.)
– Secondary (blending)
• Trade
– Import
– Export
• Consumption
– National + sub-national
– Fertilizer use by crop
secondary focus:
MARKET INFORMATION
• Prices
– National prices
– FOB prices
• Directories
– Product catalogues
– Businesses (yellow pages)
• Policies
– Regulations
– Subsidy programmes

6. Fertilizer statistics in [SS] Africa …
 Current sources:
• FAOSTAT > public
– [accuracy, depth]
• IFA > private
– [coverage, privacy]
• (too) many others
– [scattered, reliability]
 Improving access to
statistics on fertilizers:
make CountrySTAT the
[new] preferred official
source of fertilizer data!
Why CountrySTAT ?
1. CountrySTAT objectives
2. Geographical coverage
3. Institutional framework
4. Fertilizer domain [weak]
5. National & sub nat’l focus
6. Access to data & people

7. CountrySTAT – AfricaFertilizer.org partnership
 MOU between
FAO HQ and
AFO partners
 In Africa,
focus on SSA
 About
fertilizers
1. Technical
assistance
2. Data sharing
3. Capacity
building
CountrySTAT
program
FAO ESS division
[FAO STAT]
CountrySTAT
Secretariat
Technical Working
Group [TWG]
Fertilizer Technical
Working sub Group
[FTWG]
FAO HQ
Rome
Country
level
MOU
T.A.

8. National Fertilizer Technical Working [sub] Groups
Objectives of the FTWG
Assist national TWG to
1 - Feed and maintain
FERTILIZER DATA SERIES
• National core
• Sub-national core
• Thematic module
2 - Contribute to
• FAOSTAT questionnaires
• Methodologies
• Codes / nomenclatures
CountrySTAT
Secretariat
Technical Working Group
Fertilizer Technical Working
sub Group (8-15 members)
Group leader IT / database
Statistical
Services
Revenue
Authorities
Ministry of
Agriculture
Private
Sector

9. AFO support to CountrySTAT FTWG
1. Organize Technical
Trainings for FTWG
– Advanced / basic
– For 10-15 members
2. Sponsor Fertilizer
TWG meetings
– For harmonization
and/or validation
– 1 or 2 meetings
per year (1 to 2 days)
3. Provide onsite and
remote assistance
– Data acquisition, processing
and verification
– Networking with private
sector and experts
4. Share and promote
– Data published
– Best practices

10. EARLY RESULTS ARE
ENCOURAGING !

11. A partnership that works in 13 countries
2012
2013
Year of establishment and
initial training of Fertilizer
Technical Working Groups
2014 ?
UEMOA
EAC

12.  Initial meeting in April 2012
 2 FTWG meetings since
 Constant interaction between
AFO/IFDC and CS/GSS
 Private sector committed
 Full and timely access to data
Show case – the Ghana FTWG
 Our joint success !
• Import and export data
cleaned and reconciled
from 2009 to 2012
• Thematic folder created
with info on policies and
regulations, stakeholders,
subsidies, price data.
• FAO questionnaire 2013
fully completed on time

13. Several weaknesses
identified
 Technical
• Limited technical knowledge
on fertilizer products / data
• Nomenclatures and
codifications
 Management
• Institutional framework
• Need a closer follow up
with established FTWG
Technical and management issues
The way forward:
assist and consolidate
 Technical
• Technical trainings and
materials (En / Fr / Po)
• Tables of correspondence
and conversion
 Management
• MOU with FAO
• Plan to ensure better
in country support

14. Lessons learnt:
we can do better !
 Main source: CUSTOMS
 Raw data available in many
countries [ASYCUDA]
 Per product breakdown
incl. NPK possible
 A low hanging fruit in
several priority countries
Fertilizer Import/Export Statistics
The way forward:
assist and consolidate
 Secure access to raw
import / export data by
FTWG / CS
 Guidelines to “clean”
statistics at national level
 Hold “pre-validation
workshops“ with FTWG
Objective : 2010-2012 (2013?) import / export statistics
published in Q1 2014 per product and per nutrient

15. Lessons learnt:
the main challenge !
 Apparent Consumption
is NOT enough
 Hard to access and to
process, at best
guesstimates
 Main source: annual
agricultural surveys [public]
Fertilizer Consumption Statistics
The way forward:
focus on consumption
 Sponsor national assessments
in Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria,
Senegal => publish guidelines
 Improve design and use of data
collected by agricultural surveys
 Get support from IFA dedicated
Task Force, private sector
Objective : 2010-2012 [apparent] consumption data
published and guidelines published in Q1 2014

16. Focus and approach
 Fertilizers
 National core stats
 Support to [F]TWG
Key areas
 Technical trainings
 Capacity building
 Data sharing
 Best practices
CS/AFO partnership in a snapshot
2012 & 2013
 12 countries
 Learning & adjusting
 Trade > consumption
2014 and beyond
 FAO/AFO MOU
 Expand (with RECs)
 AFO to use FENIX
 Other domains
(seeds, pesticides) ?

17. @AfricFertilizer
africafertilizer.org
www.africafertilizer.org
AfricaFertilizer.org