IFDC
About Company
About Us
We are scientists, development professionals, and community members dedicated to scientific innovations that increase global food production, protect the environment, and empower smallholder farmers. Since 1974, we have worked in more than 100 countries to improve food security from right where it all starts: the soil.
Our Solutions
IFDC believes the key to global food security starts with the soil and ends at the supermarket. We strive to develop better fertilizer and production technologies, transfer these improved technologies to smallholder farmers, and connect these farmers to efficient and profitable markets. By working with strategic partners, we build local capacity and ensure sustainable impact.
5,661
Demonstration Plots Established
945k
Farmers Applying Good Agricultural Practices
331
Public-Private Partnerships Formed
Explore Our Solutions
IFDC specializes in:
Soil and Fertilizer Research
Market Systems Development
Public-Private Partnerships
Capacity Building and Training
Environmental Stewardship
Our Approach
Featured Projects
Our work showcases our Mission in Action: working together to scale sustainable solutions for soil and plant nutrition that benefit farmers, entrepreneurs, and the environment.
Burundi
Soil Fertility Stewardship Project (PAGRIS)
Budget: €8.8 million
Implementing Partners: Wageningen Environmental Research and Twitezimbere
Donor: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Burundi
PAGRIS (2020-2024) is an innovative project in Burundi that seeks to achieve ecologically sustainable land management. After a six-month inception phase, the project identified 42 pilot villages, 215 relevant watersheds of around 20 ha each, and 294 research farmers. The communities within the watersheds have been taught to develop their own plan to improve landscape management, tackle soil erosion, reach stewardship agreements, and implement integrated practices through collective community action. The research farmers have been trained to co-create their own integrated farming plan and to test and implement land stewardship strategies and practices using the participatory learning and action approach. At the institutional level, PAGRIS supported the Soil Fertilization Directorate (DFS) to improve the strategic and technical quality of fertilizers that have been produced and distributed in Burundi through the National Fertilizer Subsidy Program (PNSEB).
United States
Feed the Future Soil Fertility Technology Adoption, Policy Reform and Knowledge Management Project
IFDC’s work under the Feed the Future Soil Fertility Technology Adoption, Policy Reform and Knowledge Management agreement* bridges the gap between scientific research and technology dissemination to smallholder farmers. Research Objectives The project conducts research with partners from universities, national and international research and development institutions, and the private sector. The project is comprised of […]
Burundi | Concluded
Supporting Agricultural Productivity in Burundi (PAPAB)
Budget: €33.5 million
Implementing Partner: Wageningen Environmental Research, Oxfam Novib, and ZOA
Donor: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Burundi
PAPAB (2015-2020) promoted market-oriented, climate-resilient, and sustainable agricultural techniques, supported by fertilizer subsidies. The project sustainably increased agricultural productivity, strengthened resilience, and raised incomes for 865,666 farming households during Component 1 and 59,575 farming households during Component 2 (see the PAPAB final report). A 2019 impact study carried out to assess the integrated farm planning approach showed that over 80% of households significantly increased their incomes over three years. In 2020, the project supported the National Fertilizer Subsidy Program (PNSEB) to give about 800,000 farming households access to 56,236 mt of fertilizers and 9,210 mt of dolomite.
