Market Adoption and Diffusion of Fecal Sludge-based Fertilizer in Developing Countries

Download Market Adoption and Diffusion of Fecal Sludge-based Fertilizer in Developing Countries

There are many opportunities to address the dual challenge of waste management and soil nutrient depletion in developing countries via the safe recovery of nutrients from both solid and liquid waste streams for reuse in agriculture. Commercialization of waste-based organic fertilizers such as Fortifer (fecal sludge-based fertilizer) has the potential to generate significant benefits for developing economies via cost recovery for the sanitation sector and providing affordable alternative agricultural inputs for smallholder farmers. The successful commercialization of Fortifer, however, largely depends on future businesses understanding the dynamics and functionings of the markets that they will operate in. To guide future Fortifer businesses, this report presents a detailed market assessment of a fecal sludgebased fertilizer product – Fortifer, evaluating farmers’ perceptions, attitudes and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the product. Two formulations of the Fortifer product were considered – pelletized Fortifer (PF) and non-pelletized
Fortifer (NPF). This report further provides insights into the market demand and outlook as related to the adoption profiles of farmers and adoption rates. This will serve to guide businesses on the types of marketing and pricing strategies to implement in order to facilitate market entry and mitigate the negative effects of competition. This research was conducted in the Greater Accra and Western regions in Ghana; Kampala, Uganda; Bangalore, India; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. Furthermore, cross-country analyses were conducted to better understand the effects of market drivers and if possible, capture lessons learned for knowledge sharing.