International Fertilizer Development Center

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International Fertilizer Development Center
(IFDC)
logo
founding October 1974
Seat Muscle Shoals, Alabama ( ⊙ coordinates: 34 ° 45 ′ 0 ″  N , 87 ° 39 ′ 0 ″  W )
motto Developing agriculture from the ground up
purpose Development and dissemination of fertilizer technologies
Chair Jimmy Cheek
Managing directors Albin Hubscher
Website https://ifdc.org/

The International Fertilizer Development Center ( German : International Fertilizer Development Center , in short: IFDC ) is an international non-profit organization based in Muscle Shoals , Alabama . The organization conducts research in the field of fertilizer development and promotes projects, particularly in developing countries, to improve food security through the use of modern fertilizers .

history

In April 1974, the then Secretary of State of the United States , Henry Kissinger , called on the United Nations General Assembly to step up international efforts to improve agricultural production in developing countries through the use of improved fertilizers. This demand was also influenced by the famine in the Sahel zone at the beginning of the 1970s , which killed around half a million people between 1968 and 1974. In addition, up to 200,000 people died from a famine in Ethiopia in 1973 and 1974. One reason for this famine was the insufficient supply of fertilizers as a result of the first oil price crisis in 1973. The demand for a political reaction to these events resulted, among other things in the founding of the IFDC in October 1974.

In 1977 the organization was converted to an international organization under Jimmy Carter , then President of the United States , and the IFDC headquarters in Muscle Shoals was completed in the same year. At that time, the focus of the organization's work was in particular on developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa , but also on countries in South America and the Indian subcontinent . In response to the active activity of the organization in Africa, a permanent office was opened in 1987 in Lomé , the capital of the West African state of Togo . In 1989, with a training program in Kumasi , the IFDC began training abroad to increase the efficiency of agriculture. In 1999 the organization employed 100 people in muscle shoals and 300 people worldwide. According to the then chairman Amit Roy, between 1974 and 1999 between 200,000 and 300,000 people were trained by the IFDC.

In 2006 the IFDC was involved in the organization of the African Fertilizer Summit in Abuja under the leadership of the African Union . As a result of the summit, the Abuja Declaration was adopted, which provides for a green revolution to increase the efficiency of African agriculture, in particular through the use of modern fertilizers. According to the organization, in 2009, for the first time, more than a million people around the world were trained at IFDC events, 32% of whom were women. For the 2020s , the organization has presented the 2020–2030 strategy, which deals in particular with the challenges to food security due to the rapid population growth in numerous developing countries.

organization

The organization of the IFDC is based on two central bodies, the board of directors and the management. The board of directors is made up of representatives from industrialized and developing countries around the world; the current chairman of the board is the US American Jimmy Cheek. The body currently has 15 members, seven of whom are from the United States. The management of the non-profit organization has been headed by Albin Hubscher since 2019. There are also three regional directors who are responsible for three world regions in which the IFDC is particularly active: North and West Africa, South and East Africa and Asia. The organization is financed through donations from state and private donors. The organization provides information on finances and current projects as part of an annual report. According to the 2018 annual report, the Netherlands and the United States were the most important donors to the organization in 2018, with financial contributions from the African Development Bank , the Walmart Foundation and the United Nations, among others . In total, US $ 46.3 million was made available for the work of the organization in this way in 2018 . Spending totaled $ 47.77 million, with the organization's global projects being the largest cost item at more than $ 34 million, well ahead of the organization's research, which cost nearly $ 3 million annually .

activities

The activities of the IFDC are divided into training and development aid projects in developing countries and the research work of the organization.

research

The organization’s research focuses on the compatibility of population growth, food security and climate change through the efficient use of fertilizers. The activities include the development of fertilizers, especially in laboratories at the organization's headquarters in Muscle Shoats, checking the effectiveness of fertilizers as well as their manufacture and distribution, especially in developing countries, where legal framework conditions and agricultural expertise are sometimes inadequate. The organization is also involved in numerous publications and studies. Among other things, an estimate by the IFDC from 2010 on the global reserves of phosphorus , which is of essential importance for fertilizer production , caused a stir . Accordingly, the global reserves were about three times as high as according to the United States Geological Survey . The authors of the IFDC saw the supply as secure for several hundred years and denied the possibility of an imminent peak phosphorus .

Projects

According to the organization, more than half a million people were trained at IFDC events in 2018, 45% of whom were women. The organization also had several local projects. The organization was active in nine West African countries in cooperation with the West African Economic Community , with a particular focus on increasing the efficiency of small farms and cooperating with national governments to improve the legal and economic framework. In South and East Africa, the organization was active in Burundi , Ethiopia , Mozambique , Kenya and Uganda . Among other things, the establishment of private production of quality seeds in Burundi and the adaptation of agriculture in parts of Mozambique to the changes caused by climate change were promoted. In Asia, the organization was active in Bangladesh , Myanmar and Nepal in 2018 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chronology: Famines in Africa. July 13, 2011, accessed August 20, 2020 .
  2. ↑ International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) | Devex. Accessed August 21, 2020 .
  3. ^ Organization Helps Fertilize Fields. In: Associated Press. December 6, 1999, accessed August 20, 2020 .
  4. ^ Oumou Camara, Ed Heinemann: Overview of the Fertilizer Situation in Africa . Ed .: IFAD, IFDC. Abuja.
  5. ↑ Africa Fertilizer Summit. In: IFAD. Retrieved August 20, 2020 (American English).
  6. ↑ Abuja Declaration. In: African Development Bank. April 16, 2019, accessed on August 20, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Our History. In: IFDC. Retrieved August 20, 2020 (American English).
  8. ↑ Strategy 2020-2030. In: IFDC. Retrieved August 20, 2020 (American English).
  9. ↑ Our team. In: IFDC. Retrieved August 21, 2020 (American English).
  10. ↑ IFDC (Ed.): IFDC Annual Report 2018 . S. 44 f .
  11. ↑ World is far from running out of phosphate report . In: Reuters . September 22, 2010 ( reuters.com [accessed August 21, 2020]).
  12. ↑ IFDC (Ed.): IFDC Annual Report 2018 . S. 10 ff .
  13. ↑ Jim Robinson: IFDC Programs Designed to Improve Crop Yields. In: AgriBusiness Global. November 12, 2012, Retrieved August 21, 2020 (American English).
  14. ↑ IFDC (Ed.): IFDC Annual Report 2018 . S. 16.25.34 .