Capitalizing on Africa’s Growing Market
29 April 2013 
Kelvin Kalala, technical development agronomist at ATS Agrochemicals, says he has witnessed incredible growth in the African crop input industry in the last 20 years, a trend that he does not see slowing down anytime soon.
ATS, an agchem distributor riding the wave of this growth, is headquartered in Lusaka, Zambia. The company is located in 10 provinces of Zambia and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and has provided complete crop protection ranging from pre- to post-harvest products for more than two decades.
The company, which is currently the largest crop protection distributor in Zambia, has found success in providing an extensive distribution network and having the know-how that growers need to optimize their production. Furthermore, ATS Agrochemicals provides environmentally safe chemical products, frequent farmer training, workshops and field visits. Kalala says all of these things position ATS Agrochemicals well in the massive growth Africa’s crop input industry is experiencing.
“Zambia is a large emerging industry,” says Kalala. “Every household has at least a piece of land which they use for cultivation. Our goal at ATS Agrochemicals is to proudly serve and support farmers from sowing to harvest.”
As with all market growth, Kalala says he has also seen the competition in the agchem industry getting tougher. “Many other companies have come onto the market in the last 20 years,” he explains. Kalala says that growers have become more educated on the importance of the products as a result. “Our customers have changed from mainly commercial growers to growers of all sizes.”
This growth, he explains, is influenced mainly by the increase in agricultural productivity as a whole, which has propelled the demand for crop protection products. According to the World Bank, agriculture now employs 65% of the continent’s labor force and accounts for 32% of gross domestic product. World Bank also confirms that agricultural performance has been rapidly improving in Sub-Saharan Africa, moving from a 2.3% per year growth rate in the 1980s to a 3.8% rate from 2000 to 2005, accounting for the increased demand ATS has seen.
The company predicts not only success down the road, but also challenges. “There are a lot of myths about some products destroying the soils, glyphosate being one of them.” In addition, Kalala says that the illegal trading of products by unregistered distributors is a rampant issue in the both Zambia and the Democratic Republic Of Congo.
Kalala suggests that in order to combat these problems, potential investors should take a keen interest in raising awareness and educating farmers on the importance of the safe use of crop protection products. “It goes without saying that this area has huge potential,” he explains. “We’re meeting our target sales and see great growth on the horizon.” Listing herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and adjuvants as the products of most interest for him, Kalala states that the key to success for ATS Agrochemicals is to provide a true relationship based on integrity, product innovation and service delivery.
For more information on how Africa’s agrochemical trends and market updates, register for the upcoming FCI Trade Summit in Durban, South Africa.
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