The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) has signed an Agribusiness Partnership Contract (APC) with one of the biggest fertilizer distributors in Songea, Tanzania.

Rosemary Haule owns a fertilizer distribution business in Songea with a small warehouse that supplies more than 2000 tons of fertilizer to smallholder farmers. Her dedication to ensuring that smallholder farmers in her district get access to quality fertilizer had her reaching out to AFAP for assistance in expanding her warehouse capacity- she projects that through the partnership with AFAP, she will increase the amount of fertilizer she distributes in the 2013-14 farming season.

“Many smallholder farmers in African countries still have difficulty in accessing farm inputs, especially fertilizer closer to where they are located.  We are happy that   agribusinesses such as Rosemary Haule are using their businesses to secure long lasting food security,” said Cecilia Khupe, AFAP’s Program’s director.

Using the APC agreement with AFAP, Haule will be able to increase her warehouse and reach out to more farmers through a larger distribution network of retailers (agro-dealers) and perform significant fertilizer market development activities such as  demonstration plots to educate  farmers in Songea on the efficient application and benefits of using fertilizer for their crops The activities will be done in exchange for AFAP assistance.

The new warehouse to be constructed with AFAP’s assistance will be able to hold 5000 tonnes of fertilizer.

“The signing of the APC is good news for AFAP because through our work with Haule, AFAP will be directly working with more than 60 000 smallholder farmers who will directly benefit from this initiative, and approximately 100 medium and small sized  retailers/agro-dealers located within, and in nearby districts closer to the farmer where the fertilizer is needed cutting on long distance to be travelled by the farmer to access fertilizer,” said Khupe.