Farmers advised to adopt poultry manure due to eminent fertilizer shortage
The unending Russia-Ukraine, and by extension Belarusian crisis, has forced the Ghana COCOBOD to warn farmers of an imminent shortage of fertilizer supplies on the Ghanaian market.
The Ghana COCOBOD noted that the implementation of trade sanctions on Russia has resulted in a temporary shortage of sulfate of ammonia, the active chemical used in fertilizer manufacture.
This COCOBOD observed could be a potential surge in fertilizer prices in the Ghanaian market.
Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD observed that “Ukraine, Russia and Belarus… these three countries produce the base element for fertilizer that is the sulfate ammonia… It constitutes the fundamental for the production of fertilizer, and with the war in these three countries, it means that we cannot get the base element to produce the fertilizers, not just for Ghana but globally. And once that base element cannot be obtained, there is going to be shortage, so we must all brace ourselves that, come next year, it will not be there. Even if it going to be there, maybe from other countries, it will be very limited and so we as a country have to look for alternatives”.
He said, “Russia and Belarus control almost 40% of global fertilizer exports and imposition of sanctions on Russia have significantly constrained the supply”.
The Ghana COCOBOD stated that the consequences of the current shortages will be far-reaching beyond 2022.
“This is the time. Now we cannot get the fertilizer, let alone to make it free so we are asking our farmers that, today that the war has made it very difficult for us to get the fertilizers, we are all bracing these austerity measures together. We are pleading with our farmers that they must resort to poultry manure”, the CEO of COCOBOD noted.
