Russian company, PhosAgro Group, to increase fertilizer supply in Africa

Published August 3, 2023

White chemical fertilizer in Asian farmer hand

AFRICA – PhosAgro Group, one of the Russian-based world’s largest producers of phosphate-based fertilizers, plans to double its fertilizer exports to Africa in the next three years.

The sentiments were made by Mikhail Rybnikov, PhosAgro CEO during the Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.

To achieve the objective, Rybnikov added, the Company plans to expand its export potential to Africa with the launch of a new plant in Volkhov, with a production capacity of a million tonnes, which is located near Baltic ports focused on exporting products to friendly countries.

PhosAgro is the largest Russian supplier of fertilizers to Africa, accounting for 33% of Russia’s total fertilizer exports to the continent. PhosAgro exports fertilizers to 21 African countries with the leading importers being South Africa, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

The Company has increased deliveries to Africa by around 350% over the past five years, from 117.9 thousand tonnes in 2018 to 540.0 thousand tonnes in 2022. Over the past year, PhosAgro has increased its exports to Africa by a quarter.

According to Rybnikov, the Company supplies eco-efficient products that do not contain concentrations of cadmium or other toxic substances that are hazardous to human health or soils to some 100 countries around the world. At the same time, Africa is one of PhosAgro’s priorities for international development.

PhosAgro’s portfolio includes 57 brands of fertilizers, including 16 brands containing micronutrients. PhosAgro’s extensive product line makes it possible to take into account the specifics of various African regions and offer customers the best solutions.

According to the Company, by the end of 2023, it plans to develop no fewer than six innovative products as part of the Innagro project in partnership with Innopraktika adding that safe biological crop protection agents are innovative products that can help African countries make an important leap in addressing food security.

PhosAgro launches digital education platform for African farmers

To ensure the uptake of innovations in Africa, PhosAgro has launched a digital education platform for African farmers called Pro Agro Lectorium, an easy-to-use online educational service.

The platform provides online lectures on a variety of topics: sustainable agriculture, the basics of plant nutrition, and the proper use of mineral fertilizers for achieving food security and for producing crops with what the consumers are looking for.

The lecturers include experts from PhosAgro; leading scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian State Agrarian University, Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, and other agricultural universities; as well as top managers and experts from major agricultural companies from around the world.

Mikhail Sterkin, PhosAgro’s Deputy CEO for Sales, Marketing and Logistics noted that the platform will enable African farmers to access the accumulated knowledge of PhosAgro experts and the service will be a useful tool in shaping a sustainable model of modern agriculture in Africa and ensuring the continent’s food security.

In addition, PhosAgro, in partnership with UNESCO, awards grants every year for research on environmental protection as part of the Green Chemistry for Life program.

Over six selection rounds, the program’s international jury has reviewed over 800 applications and awarded grants to more than 40 young researchers, including 12 talented African scientists.

The Company is also taking active measures to protect Africa’s soil resources. In 2019, PhosAgro became an official partner for the launch of the African Soil Laboratory Network (AFRILAB) as part of a global soil protection initiative, a joint project with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

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