Agribusiness Leaders and Fertilizer Suppliers Provide Unprecedented Support to CRU and AFAP's Africa Fertilizer Agribusiness Conference 2019

LONDON, Aug. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Executives will gather to trade agricultural inputs and discuss investment, partnership, and innovation across the African supply chain.

The premier fertilizer marketplace returns to Cape Town International Convention Centre from 1-3 October 2019. The three-day conference is now established in the fertilizer trading calendar and is highly respected by those working in the region for the quality of the agenda and premium networking. The conference is a collaboration between CRU and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP).

The CRU Africa Fertilizer Agribusiness conferences regularly attracts more than 300 attendees, including senior executives from the international fertilizer supply chain and key stakeholders in African agribusiness. Omri Van Zyl, Executive Director, Agri SA is the voice of 28,000 commercial farmers across South Africa and will give the keynote presentation. He is joined on the agenda by other well-known thought-leaders and strategists in the African agriculture sector such as Dr. John Purchase, CEO, Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) and Frans du Plessis, Managing Director of GWK AGRI.

Ma'aden is the conference's lead sponsor and the global fertilizer supply chain is once again sending senior representatives to conduct meetings with traders and distributors. Companies such as Arab Potash, Dangote Industries, Evergrow, OCP Africa, Omnia, PhosAgro, Sabic, Sirius Minerals, Toyota Tshusho and many more, have already confirmed their participation.

The conference is officially endorsed by the Western Cape Government – Agriculture Department, and WESGRO, plus key industry associations such as: FERTASA, the Agrodealers Association of South Africa (ADASA), and the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). The conference will be opened by Her Excellency Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Former Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at The African Union. Policymakers from across Africa, representatives of SME hub agrodealers from across the continent, and SME farmers from the Western Cape will be sponsored to attend, courtesy of our partners AFAP, and the support of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.

Attendees value the conference for the excellent networking opportunities with hard-to-reach senior decision-makers. Networking opportunities are plentiful -  during frequent networking functions in the lively exhibition, or in the many available private meeting rooms, all facilitated by an online networking platform including the delegate list with full contact details.

Tom Willatt, Portfolio Director at CRU Events said "We are delighted to be working so closely with key industry partners, and it will help ensure the discussions meet the needs of the whole sector, whether they are smallholder farmers, large commercial agribusinesses, fertilizer producers, or policymakers from across Africa. I am sure the 2019 conference will build on all of the excellent connections and discussions started at our previous events."

Presentations at the conference will include: the latest updates on strategies to boost fertilizer trade, understanding the agribusiness landscape, key drivers of fertilizer demand, agri-input and finance strategies for smallholder farmers, case studies from major agribusiness stake holders on how to boost trade, and supply chain developments. This year will also feature a site visit to the Langgewens Research Farm, operated the Western Cape Government – Department of Agriculture, where visitors can see conservation agriculture in practise.

The event is supported by key sponsors such as Ma'aden, Bagtech and Evergrow for Speciality Fertilizers, and boasts a large exhibition which includes AGI, EMT, Ensymm, Global Conveyors, Kimleigh, Nectar Group, and the United Fertilizers Company.

For more details about the event please visit https://bit.ly/2KmilnY

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia – our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU – big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

About The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP): AFAP is an independent non-profit organization founded in 2012 by a partnership of African development organizations. It was built on the work of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), a framework for achieving ambitious agriculture development goals set in place by African nations and leaders.

AFAP is a service provider to the private and public sectors on sustainable development projects and policies focused on market-driven business solutions in fertilizer and agribusiness for agriculture productivity. AFAP combines technical expertise with entrepreneurial innovation. AFAP adds value to the fertilizer and agribusiness value chain by building the capacity and linking African Hub-Agrodealers and Smallholder Farmers to global fertilizer and food companies, promoting the use of high quality and affordable balanced crop nutrition products, partnering with technology and equipment providers, and providing trade finance for fixed assets and inventory via the Agribusiness Partnership Contract (APC) mechanism. 

AFAP's public-private partnership strategy is ultimately designed to build the capacity of African fertilizer and agribusiness SMEs, and increase agricultural productivity. The execution of that strategy with partners, results in increasing food security, income, job creation, and agriculture contribution to national GDPs. For more information, please visit our website: https://www.afap-partnership.org

SOURCE CRU