Yara Côte d’Ivoire
Keeping it Green in Côte d’Ivoire
Boosting crop yields through sustainable products and practices
Historically, Côte d’Ivoire has been economically dependent on farming.
Back in 1960, agriculture accounted for 48 percent of the country’s GDP, predominantly thanks to its exports of cocoa. Fast forward to the present day and Côte d’Ivoire has also become one of the world’s biggest exporters of cashew nuts – palm oil, tropical fruits, cotton and rubber are also important agricultural exports.
However, according to World Bank, despite the country’s economic situation improving, since 2012 agriculture has contributed just 14 percent of GDP growth.
There are several reasons why
Côte d’Ivoire’s agricultural sector has been constrained. Unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change and deforestation have led to low crop yields in previous years. Another reason is that agriculture is mainly conducted on a small scale, and smallholders often lack access to products that can increase yields, such as fertilisers.
But Kanigui Yeo, General Manager of Yara Côte d’Ivoire, doesn’t just see problems – he also sees potential for growth and change.
“Agriculture is a challenging but exciting space to be working in,” he says. “When you look at all the agri value chain in Côte d’Ivoire you will see problems and opportunities as well. The infrastructure is poor, and more than 95 percent of farmers are smallholders with limited literacy, growing mainly cash crops for the direct export market.
“Most of them don’t apply the basic good agricultural practices and don’t have access to agricultural inputs. They are also excluded from the banking sector. This is a dark picture, but it means there are a lot of opportunities for companies with purpose.”
And Yara Côte d’Ivoire is one such company. It is a division of Yara International with a simple, but hugely important vision: to help feed the world, while protecting the planet.
Yara International itself is a company founded in 1905 with the aim of