International Fertilizer Development Center
The International Fertilizer Development Center is a science-based public international organization working to alleviate global hunger by introducing improved agricultural practices and fertilizer technologies to farmers and by linking farmers to markets. Headquartered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA, the organization has projects in over 25 countries.
History
IFDC was established, in part, because by 1975, the Tennessee Valley Authority's National Fertilizer Development Center began receiving an amount of international assistance calls that exceeded the capabilities of the center's staff to fulfill both international demand and domestic programs. A year earlier at the Sixth Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in his speech "The Challenge of Interdependence" urged the creation of an international fertilizer institute and promised U.S. contribution through facilities, technology and expertise. The result of Kissinger's urgency became the International Fertilizer Development Center, a non-profit organization incorporated under the state laws of Alabama, which began its service by answering the international calls once fielded to the NFDC.In March 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter designated IFDC a public international organization "entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions, and immunities conferred by the International Organizations Immunities Act."
Funding
IFDC receives funding from various bilateral and multilateral development agencies, private enterprises, foundations and an assortment of other organizations. Additionally, long-term revenue is given to the Center through long-term, donor-funded market development projects involving the transfer of policy and technology improvements to emerging economies.President and CEO
Albin Hubscher's work in international agricultural development has spanned both the public and private sectors. Most recently, Hubscher served as Interim Corporate Service Director for the International Livestock Research Institute. He has also held roles as CFO – Director Of Finance for the CGIAR System Organization from 2015 to 2018 and as Deputy Director General for the Centro International de Agricultural Tropical from 2007 to 2015.Within the private sector, Hubscher held positions at Ciba-Geigy Corporation and Novartis in Colombia, Switzerland, and the United States.
Hubscher earned a degree in industrial/processing engineering from Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz. He has also completed several management and leadership training programs and workshops in the private and non-profit sectors, including from the Harvard Business School.
Board of Directors
- Dr. Jimmy Cheek, chairperson of the board, United States
- Rudy Rabbinge, Co-Vice Chairperson, The Netherlands
- Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Co-Vice Chairperson, Uganda
- M. Peter McPherson, Chairperson Emeritus, United States
- Dr. Josué Dioné, Mali
- Charlotte Hebebrand, United States
- Douglas Horswill, Canada
- Dr. Mark E. Keenum, United States
- Dr. Steven Leath, United States
- William P. O'Neill Jr., United States
- Esin Mete, Turkey
- R.S. Paroda, India
- Jason Scarpone, United States
- Albin Hubscher, IFDC President and CEO, United States
- Patrick J. Murphy, United States, Ex-Officio Member
Divisions
East and Southern Africa Division
Active Countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, ZambiaThe East and South Africa Division of IFDC handles areas where previous farming techniques are no longer adequate for the growing population they serve. ESAFD works to improve farmers' access to quality seeds and fertilizers as well as markets to cover their costs. The effort also educates farmers in Integrated Soil Fertility Management to improve soil conditions.
North and West Africa Division
Active Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, TogoThe North and West Africa Division of IFDC covers an area of Africa of about 520 million people, more than half of whom are directly affected by its programs. These programs include demonstrations fields where farmers receive hands-on training and experience with new and specialized fertilizer, seed, crop protection and irrigation research. Through the use of voucher programs called "smart subsidies," farmers can receive quality supplies in a timely manner and be supported at harvest time.
EurAsia Division
Active Countries: Bangladesh, MyanmarThe EurAsia Division of IFDC focuses on countries with little land suitable for farming where farmers' yields steadily decrease over time due to crop quality and quantity. EAD hopes to reverse these issues by addressing specific financial, market, and agricultural needs. The division teaches farmers about Fertilizer Deep Placement, a method which has previously raised crop yields by 20 percent and decreased nitrogen losses by 40 percent.
Office of Programs
The Office of Programs conducts research and development projects dedicated to improving fertilizer efficiency. It offers consultation to national governments as well as private sector organizations with regard to critical domains such as supply/demand and policy issues.Nations Currently Served by IFDC
Nations Previously Served by IFDC
Research and development
By 2050, 60 percent more food will need to be grown annually to keep up with a rapidly growing population. According to Vaclav Smil, man-made nitrogen fertilizers are keeping about 40% of the world's population alive. IFDC conducts research to identify the most efficient use of fertilizer raw materials and develops processes to use these materials in the sustainable and cost-effective manufacture of various fertilizer products. In Bangladesh, for example, IFDC introduced Urea Deep Placement technology, a briquetted form of urea applied into the soil, which increases farmer incomes by an average of 20% and decreases nitrogen loss by up to 30%. Applied research also includes the development of more efficient cropping technologies, decision support tools and the agronomic evaluation of these products and processes to ensure their long-term viability in a free-market environment.Fertilizer Deep Placement
During the mid to late 1980s, IFDC began research in India on several fertilizer types, one being the IFDC-developed fertilizer deep placement technology, which was shown at the time to decrease nitrogen losses by 9% on sorghum crops. In 1986, the Center introduced FDP in Bangladesh where IFDC has promoted the technology ever since. Farmers are now using the technology on 1.7 million acres in that country alone. In 2007, IFDC began a new FDP campaign, spreading the technology to sub-Saharan Africa.FDP involves "briquetting" nitrogen fertilizer by compacting prilled fertilizer into 1-3 gram briquettes. The briquettes are then placed in a plant's root zone, as opposed to the traditional application method of broadcasting. Trials have shown that FDP and UDP can increase crop production up to 36 percent, reduce fertilizer use by up to 38 percent, and reduce nitrogen losses by up to 40 percent.
The technology, mainly promoted in lowland flooded rice, showed promising results in reducing nitrogen runoff, so in 2012, IFDC began research in Bangladesh to quantify GHG emissions produced from using FDP. Through the USAID-funded Accelerating Agricultural Productivity Improvement project, which integrated the U.S. government's Global Climate Change Initiative into its Feed the Future Initiative, research is currently underway.
Peak Phosphorus
is a key component of fertilizer, along with nitrogen and potassium. Predicting the future event of peak phosphate in which production of phosphate rock begins to decline as resources dwindle, researchers estimated that world phosphorus supplies would be used up by 2030 if mined and processed at its present rates. Depletion of this material would be a major complication for the fertilizer production sector.In 2010, IFDC geologist Steven Van Kauwenburgh estimated the world's supply of phosphate rock at 60 billion metric tons in the publication . By his estimates, global resources of phosphate rock suitable to produce phosphate rock concentrate, phosphoric acid, phosphate fertilizers and other phosphate-based products will be available for several hundred years. His estimation overshadowed previous estimates of the U.S. Geological Survey by 44 billion tons. Upon review and intense scrutiny of the information in the report, the USGS revised its world phosphate rock reserve and resource numbers to more closely reflect those stated in the report.