Making a little go a long wayExamining the economic viability of fertilizer microdosing in Northwestern Benin

International Food Security Dialogue:Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and Nutritional Security in a Changing WorldEdmonton, Alberta May 2, 2014

Erika Bachmann

Project Background• Limited crop production throughout the Sahel

due to poor soil fertility and frequent droughts

• An element of food insecurity among subsistence farmers

INuWaM Project• Integrated Nutrient and Water Management

Project

• Collaborative IDRC funded CIFSRF research project between research centres and universities in West Africa and Canada

Project Background• Four project countries in West Africa: Benin, Mali, Niger

and Burkina Faso

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

Fertilizer Microdosing

©ICRISAT

• An alternative for fertilizer recommendations aimed at maximizing yields or profit

• Fertilizer microdosing: Using small* quantities of fertilizer at specified times

Rainwater HarvestingIncrease soil moisture, reduce erosion, trap organic matter,

reduce the speed of the water

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

Project Implementation- Benin• 20 demonstration farmers in each village

• Two demonstration plots per farmer: one microdosing technique, one conventional technique

• Maize crop

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

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?

VALUE CHAIN APPROACH

Maize Value Chain in West Africa

Boone et al. (2008) USAID ATP

IDENTIFYING CONSTRAINTSExamining low input use

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

Access to credit• Emphasis on group borrowing

• Willingness to borrow money

Availability of fertilizer • Timing

• Infrastructure

• Priority groups

Transportation

National Policies

• Government of Benin priorities

• Togo government policies regarding fertilizer sale to non-Togolese

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

Complementary investments

• Importance of increasing organic matter in soil

• Investment into inventory credit shops to address credit constraint and liquidity problem

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

Thank you to the IDRC for sponsoring, and the University of Alberta for hosting, the International

Food Security Dialogue, 2014