Published: June 15, 2026

Reviewed and fact-checked by Royking Niba, Editorial Reviewer, JOGOO Agriculture

Choosing the right fertilizer, at the right rate and at the right time, is the most profitable agronomic lever available to an African grower. There is no universal fertilizer: an NPK 15-15-15 is ideal for a seasonal vegetable crop but would be unsuitable for a cocoa tree in production, just as urea on its own will never replace a balanced fertilization plan. This guide reviews the main fertilizer families used in West and Central Africa (compound mineral fertilizers, straight nitrogen fertilizers, foliar feeds, organic fertilizers and cocoa-specific formulas) with their analyses, typical rates and indicative 2026 prices.

1. Reading a fertilizer bag: the basics too many growers overlook

Every bag carries a numerical formula such as 15-15-15, 20-10-10, 12-11-18 or 0-23-19-5. These numbers are not an arbitrary code: they give, in order, the percentages by weight of three major nutrients:

N: total nitrogen (%)
P: phosphorus, expressed as P₂O₅ (%)
K: potassium, expressed as K₂O (%)

A 50 kg bag of NPK 15-15-15 therefore contains 7.5 kg of N, 7.5 kg of P₂O₅ and 7.5 kg of K₂O, or 22.5 kg of nutrients, the rest being carrier material (sulphate, calcium, magnesium, inert matter depending on the formulation).

A complete formula may add Mg (magnesium), S (sulphur) or trace elements (B, Zn, Mn, Cu). These extra nutrients are listed after the main figures: for example 12-11-18 + 2 MgO + 8 S.

The fundamental agronomic principle to remember: a plant takes from the soil what it needs, when it needs it. An excess applied at a stage when demand is low is leached (nitrogen) or locked up (phosphorus). Too little caps yield and leaves the crop vulnerable to stress.

2. The main NPK formulas and their crops

Formula	Main use	Target crops
NPK 15-15-15	Balanced “all-purpose” formula	Vegetables, young maize, rice, cassava, early growth of most crops
NPK 20-10-10	High-nitrogen formula	Cereals (maize, rice) in full vegetative growth
NPK 12-24-12	Phosphate starter formula	Sowing, transplanting, seedlings
NPK 12-11-18 + 2 MgO + 8 S	Enriched potassium formula	Fruit crops (banana, cocoa, coffee), tubers with high K demand
0-23-19-5 (Ivorian “simplified formula”)	Nitrogen-free	Cocoa in production, established orchards
NPK 17-17-17	Equivalent to 15-15-15, slightly more concentrated	Same as 15-15-15
NPK 14-23-14	Starter for roots and tubers	Cassava, sweet potato, yam at first weeding

NPK 15-15-15: the vegetable grower’s all-rounder

NPK 15-15-15 (sometimes formulated as 17-17-17 depending on the supplier) is the best-selling and most widely used formula in West Africa. It suits most situations where the soil has not been tested recently and a balanced N-P-K supply is needed.

Indicative manual rate: about 30 g per m² (a good handful), or 5 kg per 150 m², or 200 to 300 kg/ha depending on the crop and soil fertility.

Indicative 2026 price in West Africa: around 20,000 to 30,000 FCFA per 50 kg bag through official channels, depending on the supplier, any national subsidy and the season. Check with your local distributor; public subsidy campaigns can lower these prices considerably. Our farm supplies and inputs team helps growers with product selection and secure sourcing. To compare two bags per kilo of nutrient and follow the 2026 price surge, see our update on NPK fertilizer prices.

3. Urea: powerful, but it must be handled with method

Agricultural urea contains 46% nitrogen: it is the most concentrated nitrogen fertilizer on the market. Weight for weight, it supplies three times as much nitrogen as an NPK 15-15-15. That makes it both a very profitable tool and a classic trap for growers without proper training.

Target crops: cereals (maize, rice, sorghum) at the stage of strong vegetative growth, sugar cane, oil palm, young cocoa plantations, forage crops.

Typical rates:

Maize: 100 to 200 kg/ha, split into 2 applications (V4 to V6, then V8 to V10).
Irrigated rice: 150 to 250 kg/ha, split into 3 applications (tillering, stem elongation, heading).
Cassava: 100 kg/ha at the second weeding.
Oil palm in production: 1 to 2 kg/palm/year depending on the stage.

Three practical rules:

Lightly incorporate urea after spreading or apply it before moderate rain. Left on the surface of dry soil, up to 30% of the nitrogen can be lost through ammonia volatilization.
Never apply urea during the sensitive flowering stage of certain crops (risk of scorching the stamens).
Always split applications on long-cycle crops: a single heavy dose is washed out by the first heavy rains.

4. Foliar feeding: a complement, not a substitute

Foliar fertilizer is a liquid solution sprayed directly on the leaves, where the mineral nutrients cross the cuticle and are absorbed within a few hours. This route has real value but is often overestimated.

When foliar feeding makes the difference:

Rapid correction of a visible deficiency (yellowing, blossom end rot) without waiting for a soil application to take effect.
Micronutrients (B, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe): poorly mobile in the soil, very effective through the leaves.
Key periods of high physiological demand: flowering, fruit set, fruit filling.
Poor or degraded soils where root uptake is limited.

The quantities actually supplied through the leaves, which nutrients the leaf does or does not absorb, and the spraying rules are covered in detail in our analysis of foliar NPK fertilizer.

What foliar feeding does not replace: basal N, P and K applications, which remain necessary to cover the crop’s large requirements. The amount of major nutrients that can be supplied through the leaves remains marginal (a few kg/ha), nothing like the 100 to 300 kg/ha of NPK or urea applied to the soil.

Foliar spraying rules:

Spray early in the morning or late in the afternoon, never in full sun.
Stick strictly to the stated concentrations (overdosing causes leaf burn).
Always check tank-mix compatibility with crop protection products.

5. Organic fertilizer and certified organic fertilizer: not the same thing

Organic fertilizer: derived from living matter (manure, compost, poultry droppings, oilseed cakes, guano). It enriches the soil in organic matter, improves CEC (cation exchange capacity), stimulates microbial life and releases N-P-K slowly.

Certified organic fertilizer (in the sense of organic farming certification): a fertilizer approved under an organic standard. Most are organic, but not every organic material can be certified (for example, manure from an intensive conventional farm will not be).

Typical application rates:

Well-rotted manure: 5 to 15 t/ha depending on the crop.
Mature compost: 3 to 10 t/ha.
Dry poultry droppings: 1 to 3 t/ha (watch salinity and initial ammonia).
Oilseed cakes (neem, castor, cotton): 200 to 500 kg/ha.

Recommended approach: combine organic and mineral inputs. IITA trials in Central Africa showed that combining compost + NPK raises cassava root yield by 35%, against 24% for NPK alone. The same principle applies to most vegetable crops. The logic is not “organic versus chemical” but complementarity for lasting soil fertility.

6. Cocoa-specific NPK: the Ivorian simplified formula

Ivorian cocoa farming, the largest in the world, has benefited from thirty-five years of agronomic fine-tuning by CNRA, CIRAD and partner institutes. Two key formulas came out of this work:

6.1 Soil-diagnosis formula

A customised formulation following leaf or soil analysis, adjusted to the plot. It is the agronomic optimum, but few growers have access to it.

6.2 Simplified formula 0-23-19-5

An N-P-K-Mg fertilizer of the 0-23-19-5 type, known as the “simplified formula”. It supplies 0% nitrogen (deliberately), 23% P₂O₅, 19% K₂O and 5% MgO. Leaving out nitrogen is an agronomic choice: a mature cocoa tree takes up enough nitrogen from the organic matter returned by its leaves and pods, and excess nitrogen favours vegetative growth at the expense of flowering.

After five years of comparative trials in Côte d’Ivoire, this simplified formula gives cocoa yields that are statistically identical to those obtained after a full soil diagnosis. It is the formula now widely adopted by smallholders, although its application frequency often falls short of recommendations.

Typical rate: 500 to 800 g/tree/year, split into 2 applications (start and end of the rainy season), placed in a ring 30 to 50 cm from the trunk.

6.3 Innovation on the way

Recent work shows that phosphorus fertilization of cocoa can be provided by combining compost with a low dose of TSP, an organo-phosphate approach tested on ferralsols in the Divo region. This opens the way to more sustainable systems that depend less on imported fertilizer.

7. Building your fertilization plan: 6 questions to ask

Which crop, and at what stage?
Which soil: has it been tested? What pH? How much organic matter?
What yield target: realistic, not maximalist?
What input budget: how many kg of NPK and urea can my farm afford?
What is my organic strategy: compost, manure, returning crop residues?
How will I split applications so as not to lose nitrogen through leaching?

A professional fertilization plan ideally relies on a soil analysis (macronutrients, pH, organic matter, CEC) and a leaf analysis during the season to make adjustments. Our fertilization and plant nutrition teams support growers with these diagnoses and with building a tailored plan.

Sources and references

Koko, L. K. et al. (2010). Techniques de fertilisation minérale du cacaoyer (Theobroma cacao L.) en Côte d’Ivoire. 16th International Cocoa Research Conference / CIRAD Agritrop.
Ruf, F. (2015). La fertilisation des cacaoyères en Côte d’Ivoire, 35 ans d’innovations villageoises. Agronomie, Environnement & Sociétés 5(2).
Nassy, M. L. M. et al. (2020). Int. J. Biol. Chem. Sci. 14(4):1432-1447.
IFDC / CMGP Group. Technical resources on NPK fertilizers in West Africa.

Article written by the JOGOO Agriculture agronomy team. Prices are indicative at the time of writing and vary by country, season and supplier.

Frequently asked questions

What do the numbers NPK 15-15-15 on a fertilizer bag mean?

The three numbers in an NPK formula give, in order, the percentages by weight of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (expressed as P₂O₅) and potassium (expressed as K₂O). A 50 kg bag of NPK 15-15-15 therefore contains 7.5 kg of each nutrient, or 22.5 kg of nutrients in total.

What is NPK 15-15-15 used for?

NPK 15-15-15 is the most widely used balanced all-purpose formula in West Africa. It suits the early growth of most crops (vegetables, young maize, rice, cassava) and is generally applied at 200 to 300 kg/ha depending on the crop and soil fertility.

What does a bag of NPK 15-15-15 cost in West Africa?

A 50 kg bag of NPK 15-15-15 in West Africa costs roughly 20,000 to 30,000 FCFA through official channels in 2026, depending on the country, the supplier, the season and whether a public subsidy applies.

Which fertilizer should be used on cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire?

The simplified NPK-Mg formula 0-23-19-5, developed after thirty-five years of fine-tuning by CNRA and CIRAD, is the reference for Ivorian cocoa in production. The absence of nitrogen is deliberate. Typical rate: 500 to 800 g per tree per year, split into two applications during the rainy season.

How should urea be used on maize?

Agricultural urea (46% nitrogen) is applied to maize at 100 to 200 kg/ha, split into two applications: at V4 to V6, then at V8 to V10. Lightly incorporate the urea after spreading or apply it before moderate rain: left on the surface of dry soil, up to 30% of the nitrogen is lost through ammonia volatilization.

What is the difference between organic fertilizer and certified organic fertilizer?

Organic fertilizer means any soil input derived from living matter (manure, compost, poultry droppings, oilseed cakes). Certified organic fertilizer is a fertilizer approved under a certified organic farming standard. Most certified organic fertilizers are organic, but not every organic material can be certified.