Springer Improving the Profitability, Sustainability and Efficiency of Nutrients Through Site Specific Fertilizer Recommendations in West Africa Agro-Ecosystems: Volume 1

As part of its efforts to improve fertilizer use and efficiency in West Africa, and following the recent adoption of the West African fertilizer recommendation action plan (RAP) by ECOWAS, this volume focuses on IFDC's technical lead with key partner institutions and experts to build on previous and current fertilizer recommendations for various crops and countries in West Africa for wider uptake by public policy makers and fertilizer industry actors. From the Back Cover Improving fertilizer recommendations for increased return from fertilizer investments and optimized crop response to fertilizer has been a major area of investigation of IFDC. Since 2008, IFDC through its Natural Resource Management (NRM) Program has partnered with national agricultural research services to undertake research, development and extensive on-farm trials in various agroecosystems in West Africa to develop site specific fertilizer recommendations for crops. Validation trials have been conducted in many countries (Benin (maize, cassava), Burkina (rice, maize and sorghum) Ghana (maize, cocoa and cassava) and Togo (maize and cassava). However, these fertilizer recommendation data remain scattered and most of them need final statistical analysis before they can be fully utilized and/or scaled out. As part of its efforts to improve fertilizer use and efficiency in West Africa, and following the recent adoption of the West African fertilizer recommendation action plan (RAP) by ECOWAS, IFDC has taken technical lead with key partner institutions and experts to build on previous and current fertilizer recommendations for various crops and countries in West Africa for wider uptake by public policy makers and fertilizer industry actors. About the Author Dr Bationo is from Burkina Faso, and holds a PhD in Soil Chemistry from Laval University (Canada). He is currently the Senior Resource Mobilization Officer, Africa at AGRA. A post he took up after serving as the West Africa Director and Senior Program Officer for the Soil Health Program.  Prior to his joining AGRA, Dr. Bationo was the Coordinator of the African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet) and the Deputy Director of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) in Nairobi, Kenya. Before that, he was a Principal Soil Scientist seconded to ICRISAT’s Sahelian Centre by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC). In 2009, he received the annual award from the International Fertilizer Industry Association in Shanghai for his work in soil health. He has over 300 publications to his credit and received the Principal Staff Achievement Award for the year 2004 from the CIAT board and The Highest Civilian Award from the Government of Niger for contribution to the development of soil fertility restoration technologies in the Sahel.  The Doctorate Honoris Causa award was also inferred on him from the University of Sweden.