The International Fertilizer Development Center (known as IFDC) is a science-based public international organization working to alleviate global hunger by introducing improved agricultural practices and fertilizer technologies to farmers and by linking farmers to markets. Headquartered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA, the organization has projects in over 25 countries.
IFDC was established, in part, because by 1975, the Tennessee Valley Authority's National Fertilizer Development Center (NFDC) began receiving an amount of international assistance calls that exceeded the capabilities of the Center's staff to fulfill both international demand and domestic programs. A year earlier at the Sixth Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in his speech "The Challenge of Interdependence" urged the creation of an international fertilizer institute and promised U.S. contribution through facilities, technology and expertise. The result of Kissinger's urgency became the International Fertilizer Development Center, a non-profit organization incorporated under the state laws of Alabama, which began its service by answering the international calls once fielded to the NFDC. In March 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter designated IFDC a public international organization "entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions, and immunities conferred by the International Organizations Immunities Act."
IFDC receives funding from various bilateral and multilateral development agencies, private enterprises, foundations and an assortment of other organizations. Additionally, long-term revenue is given to the Center through long-term, donor-funded market development projects involving the transfer of policy and technology improvements to emerging economies.
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| Abbreviation | IFDC |
|---|---|
| Formation | October 1974 |
| Type | Public International Organization |
| Purpose | Research |
| Headquarters | Muscle Shoals, Alabama |
Region served
| Worldwide |
President and CEO
| Dr. Amit H. Roy |
| Website | www |
