Training and Workshop Coordination Unit
More than 950,000 Trained
Training is a strategic tool that IFDC uses to strengthen the capability of fertilizer producers,
suppliers, farmers and agro-dealers to increase sustainable agricultural productivity. IFDC conducts
field trainings at the project level in its three geographic divisions and coordinates specialized
global trainings from its headquarters in Muscle Shoals, Ala., USA.
Between 2010 and 2014, the number of field training participants accelerated from nearly 550,000
to more than 950,000, with a 12 percent compound annual growth rate. This growth serves as an
example of the critical role that technology and innovation transfer plays in the implementation
of IFDC’s mission. A core component of IFDC’s mandate is building human capacity to improve
performance and efficiency across agricultural value chains. IFDC envisions a future in which
developmental assistance will no longer be necessary to ensure freedom from hunger and
poverty. Realizing that goal requires strengthening local actors and institutions that ultimately are
responsible for transforming their countries. “It is not enough to have innovation,” says Dr. Amit Roy,
IFDC president and CEO. “We need to get innovation and technologies to those who need it.”
IFDC sees development as a long-term, continual process that involves all stakeholders, including
entrepreneurs, governments, regional economic communities, local authorities, private sector
companies, non-governmental organizations, community members, academics and donors. IFDC is
building human, scientific, technological and organizational capabilities in the countries in which it
works at all levels: individual, community, institutional and societal. The training topics covered vary
according to the specific needs of each IFDC geographic region along the field project lines.
IFDC Field Training Participants (2010-2014)
1,050,000
950,000
850,000
750,000
650,000
550,000
450,000
350,000
250,000
807,449
546,536
2010
898,271
956,181
644,302
2011
2012
2013
2014
EurAsia Division (EAD)
The Accelerating Agriculture Productivity Improvement (AAPI) project in Bangladesh, together
with Walmart Foundation Activity (WFA), recorded 164,368 participants, of which 38 percent were
women. Compared with 2013, the attendance rate decreased by 33 percent because AAPI activities
had settled into a slower pace. These results could be attributed to the project entering its fifth
year, and most training targets have been met. However, the number of women trained under
WFA increased by 50 percent from 14,360 in 2013 to 21,560 in 2014. To create sustainable FDP
technology adoption and briquette supply, AAPI strengthened private sector business networks
that link fertilizer briquette machine owners to existing retailers to increase sales. Consequently, the
training focused on both machine operation for local mechanics and on retailer training programs.
WFA provided women with training on FDP technology in vegetable crops and provided nutrition
education (see sidebar).
East and Southern Africa Division (ESAFD)
With projects in ten countries, ESAFD has increased the number of participants trained by 27
percent from 333,532 in 2013 to 423,541 in 2014; 51 percent of trainees were women. CATALIST-2
training accounted for 67 percent of the division’s total training attendance. The programs targeted
agribusiness cluster stakeholders, including farmers, agro-dealers, collectors, processors, sellers
and consumers. Training focused on business management, financial education, cooperative
management, cost and benefit analysis, marketing, business negotiation, agribusiness, value chain
development and gender inclusion in value chains. CATALIST-2 linked agribusiness cluster actors
with financial institutions and farmers with potential buyers. In addition, farmers were trained in
integrated soil fertility management, quality seed production, positive selection for seed multipliers
and seed entrepreneurship.
36 | 2014 ANNUAL REPORT