According to a cabinet statement released on May 7, Burkina Faso is set to establish an emergency fertilizer reserve holding 56,700 metric tons, aiming to shield the nation from surging international fertilizer costs.
The initiative follows a warning from the World Bank. In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook released on April 28, the institution projected that global fertilizer prices may climb over 30% in 2026. The upward pressure stems from Middle East tensions and shipping bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that handles roughly one-third of the world’s seaborne fertilizer trade, equivalent to 16 million metric tons per year.
As the most prevalent nitrogen fertilizer across the globe, urea remains highly vulnerable to these geopolitical and logistics risks. The World Bank forecasts urea’s average price will hit $675 per metric ton this year, representing a nearly 60% year-on-year increase compared with 2025.
This emergency stockpile is part of the Emergency Operation for Strengthening Agricultural Production in Burkina Faso, referred to by its French acronym OURPA-BF. Funded jointly by the African Development Bank and the Government of Burkina Faso, the project has an overall budget of 60.04 billion CFA francs, equal to 107.4 million US dollars.
As stated in the cabinet announcement, the OURPA-BF initiative is designed to bolster national food security by boosting output of staple priority crops. It also intends to enable easier access to high-quality agricultural supplies for local farmers, spread standard farming techniques, and enhance regulatory oversight within the seed and fertilizer industries.
In addition to setting up the emergency reserve, the project covers the procurement of 68,700 metric tons of fertilizers and 10,087 metric tons of improved crop seeds. These supplies will support the cultivation of rice, soybeans, wheat, maize and millet.
Government authorities will also construct new grain and fertilizer storage infrastructure. Four large warehouses, each with a 15,000-metric-ton capacity, will be built in Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou, Ziniaré and Koupéla. Another five small-scale storage units, each capable of holding 500 metric tons, will be completed as complementary facilities.
Burkina Faso has seen a dramatic surge in fertilizer consumption over recent years. Statistics from the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) indicate that national fertilizer usage jumped from 164,422 metric tons in 2019 to 327,163 metric tons in 2023, marking a nearly 99% growth within five years.
