Similar to Economics, Policy and Value Chains: Making a little go a long way: Examining the economic viability of fertilizer microdosing in Northwestern Benin
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Economics, Policy and Value Chains: Making a little go a long way: Examining the economic viability of fertilizer microdosing in Northwestern Benin
1. Making a little go a long way
Examining the economic viability of fertilizer
microdosing in Northwestern Benin
International Food Security Dialogue:
Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and
Nutritional Security in a Changing World
Edmonton, Alberta May 2, 2014
Erika Bachmann
2. Project Background
• Limited crop production throughout the Sahel
due to poor soil fertility and frequent droughts
• An element
of food
insecurity
among
subsistence
farmers
3. INuWaM Project
• Integrated Nutrient and Water Management
Project
• Collaborative IDRC funded CIFSRF research project
between research centres and universities in West
Africa and Canada
5. 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
8. 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
9. Project Implementation- Benin
• 20 demonstration farmers in each village
• Two demonstration plots per farmer: one
microdosing technique, one conventional technique
• Maize crop
10. 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
11. 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?
15. 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
16. Access to credit
• Emphasis on group borrowing
• Willingness to borrow money
20. 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
21. Complementary investments
•Importance of increasing organic
matter in soil
•Investment into inventory credit
shops to address credit constraint and
liquidity problem
22. 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
1 to 6 grams of fertilizer at each hill (amount varied depending upon article source)Recommended dosage was anywhere from 2 to 4 times moreIN Benin, recommended is 150kg/ha for maize; the Microdose amount was 83kg/haSmall* as compared to the recommended dosageBroadcast in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and CARDER in Benin
An example of rainwater harvesting: Banquette
How do I segue into my research? Explicitly discuss that is for a thesis?
Characterized the production link of the chain as…Complex dynamic with low-input agriculture, poverty and low yields. Low-input compounds poor soil fertility Majority of maize is for household consumption, though some sold to local traders, usually right after harvest for cash
Essentially, when you have the money, you don’t need the fertilizer, and when you don’t have the money you need the fertilizer and they can’t borrow
Caisse Locale de Credit AgricolMutuelDifficulty accessing credit unless the farmer is in a group-> problems with management of groups, time cost of group membershipBut many farmers expressed that they won’t even attempt to borrow as they cannot be sure they will be able to pay back and they fear the police
Carrying sacs of fertilizer on bikes, motorcycles etc. or paying for a ‘taxi’ to transport it. Dependent upon road conditions
Cotton as a priority cropFertilizer formulated for cottonFarmers’ stories buying fertilizer at a market in nearby Togo when the fertilizer ran out at the CARDER in Benin-> fears of getting their fertilizer or motorcycle confiscated at the border by guards
How does it minimize costs? By reducing the cost of fertilizing each unit of land –> farmers expressed appreciation that they could fertilize more land with a smaller quantity of fertilizer
