IFDC 2013 International Training Calendar

IFDC has held over 700 formal workshops, study tours and training programs for more than 10,000 participants from 150 countries since 1974. The programs have covered a wide range of subjects including integrated soil fertility management, fertilizer use efficiency, fertilizer production technology, agro-input dealerships, competitive marketing, supply chain management, investment analysis, policy reforms and numerous specialized topics.

Please visit the IFDC ebsite for additional information, updates and registration forms for the IFDC 2013 Training Program Calendar. 

1. Developing Private Sector Agro-Input Markets: Designing and Implementing Targeted Input Subsidies April 8-12, 2013 Nairobi, Kenya $1,300 
2. Fertilizer Policy & Marketing Strategies in Africa ; May 20-24, 2013 Arusha, Tanzania $1,300 
3. Linking Farmers to Markets in Africa ; July 1-5, 2013 Nairobi, Kenya $1,300 
4. Developing and Managing Profitable Agro-Input Business Through Sustainable Value Chains ; ovember 4-8, 2013 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso $1,300 

IFDC reserves the right to cancel any program or change the dates and/or venue of any program without liability for compensation.For the PDF printable version of our calendar, please click here.

Innovative Composting Alternatives

26-30 November 2012. Accra, Ghana. Promoting Affordable Sources of Plant Nutrients in Africa Through Innovative Composting Alternatives. Co-sponsored by African Union Commission Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture.  

The objectives of this five-day training program included:

1. Improving participants’ capabilities to overcome constraints that hamper waste recycling and the feasibility of recycling strategies and their contribution to ensuring sustainable agricultural productivity and improved sanitation in rapidly growing rural, urban and peri-urban environments.
2. Increase participants’ knowledge of the principles and methodologies of solid waste and fecal sludge collection, storage and handling to ensure efficiency.
3. Update participants on the development of innovative composting technologies to enhance the effectiveness, aesthetics and applicability of the composted material to increase acceptability among smallholder farmers.
4. Increase participants’ knowledge on: (i) proper handling of composted organic fertilizer to eliminate any risks associated with their use; (ii) calculate optimal application rates; and (iii) the long-term benefits of their use on soil health.
5. Identify sound policy options for promoting municipal and human waste fertilizer use and supply in Africa.

Pilot for protecting against counterfeit crop protection products

Anecdotal evidence collected across all agribusiness sectors in 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa indicates that counterfeit agricultural inputs account for more than 30 percent of all retail agro-input purchases. 

Unscrupulous entrepreneurs produce counterfeit pesticide packaging and fill it with inert product, sell inferior grain as quality seed and palm gravel off as fertilizer.  Neither law enforcement agencies nor Ministries of Agriculture nor the private sector have been able to make any real headway in reducing this illegal trading which, according to Felix Jumbe, Executive Director of the Seed Trade Association of Malawi, “makes the poor poorer.”

Felix Jumbe

With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through theCommon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), IFDC is helping eliminate counterfeit crop protection products (CPPs). IFDC staff members have designed a simple counter-measure and, in partnership with CropLife Africa Middle East (CLAME) and CropLife Uganda, IFDC is launching a pilot program to scientifically test the effectiveness of the methodology. CLAME, a member of CropLife International, is a regional federation representing the plant science industry and a network of national associations in 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Read more

Soil Fertility Management in the tropics

The clip is an executive summary of a 95 minutes film we made on participatory soil fertility management in Africa. It is a fiction film based on real life stories of African farmers trying to realize their dreams. Improving the ways of managing their soil, but also collective storage and marketing of agricultural produce and negotiation for inputs and credit are part of farmers' strategies to be competitive. The film makes clear that interactive learning is the drive for local innovation and adaptation, and for realizing farmers' dreams.