Major boost for PFJ programme: as Glofert ramps up fertilizer production

Ghana’s largest fertilizer blending company, Glofert, is ramping up the production of fertilizer for the planting season, following predictions that Ghana is on the verge of food shortage due to challenges in accessing fertilizer. Glofert, as a result, is producing 15,000 metric tons of various blends of fertilizer to ensure farmers get quality fertilizers for the season and also bridge the yield gap.

This will ensure quality fertilizers are available for the government’s flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and avert any form of food shortage in the country, Glofert’s CEO, Rev. Foster Mawuli Benson told the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Major boost for PFJ programme: as Glofert ramps up fertilizer production
“That’s where we come in to fill the gap because, at the end of the day, we want all our farmers to have the maximum yield as much as they can, there’s currently a yield deficit, we are just barely 50 per cent, so, it means that to get to the full potential of yield we still need about 50 per cent to go. So, we are in to bridge the yield gap. And, one of the key components of bridging that yield gap is by producing tailor-made fertilizers to feed the soil so that the yields can be maximized,” Mr. Benson said.

He was speaking during a tour of Glofert’s 45,000 metric tons’ capacity warehouse at Asuboi – Kyekyewere in the Eastern Region, noting that the facility would be expanded to 12,000 metric tons in the coming years. The facility also has a state-of-the-art Blending Plant for blending various formulations of NPK.

Major boost for PFJ programme: as Glofert ramps up fertilizer production
A one district, one factory initiative, Glofert, according to Mr. Benson, produces currently about 2,400 metric tons of fertilizer a day. “We are the largest in terms of capacity. We produce 120 tons per hour that translate in a day to about 2,400 metric tons per day. So…if you want to translate them into the 50kg bags we are producing 48,000 bags a day,” he stated.

Unveiled two years ago by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, GloFert is a wholly Ghanaian-owned business that is focused on improving crop production and ensuring food security through excellent yields—by providing environmentally friendly, affordable and quality fertilizers to farmers in Ghana and across the continent of Africa, Mr. Benson stated.

Major boost for PFJ programme: as Glofert ramps up fertilizer production
With the right people and the right structures and systems, the company aims to become the leader in the fertilizer manufacturing and distribution market in Ghana in the next five years and a dominant force in the fertilizer industry in Africa by 2026.

The company has for the past 13 days been running day and night shifts “because we needed to produce about 16,000 metric tons of raw materials that we just took delivery of a couple of weeks ago. “We are doing a just in time system. That’s what you see currently being done and this going to continue for the next 20 days,” Mr. Benson said.