It’s time to use fertilizers sustainably to feed Africa’s growing population
The Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit is finally over. What’s next for sustainable and responsible fertilizer use to feed Africa’s growing population?
The focus is now on sustainable and responsible use of fertilizers to address the urgent challenge of feeding Africa’s growing population. At the Nairobi Summit in May, African heads of state signed the Nairobi Declaration, committing to improve the sustainable use of fertilizers in agriculture. Currently, more than 485 million Africans, or about 65% of the population, are struggling with degraded croplands, compounding the challenge of producing enough quality food.
In addition, up to 40% of crops are lost to pests, diseases and the effects of climate change, such as floods and droughts. To meet the growing demand for nutritious fruits and vegetables and double agricultural production, Africa’s 33 million smallholder farmers need to triple their use of fertilizers over the next decade. Despite previous commitments, such as the 2006 Abuja Declaration to use 50 kg/ha of fertilizers, current consumption averages only 18 kg/ha, highlighting the urgency to accelerate progress.
Data and digital tools are key in this regard. Partnerships and technological advances can provide smallholder farmers with crucial information on sustainable fertilizer use as part of an integrated crop management approach. This approach not only enhances crop health but also minimizes environmental impact, in line with Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) principles.
ILM promotes natural resource resilience through long-term, collaborative, multi-stakeholder strategies that are essential to mitigating ecosystem degradation exacerbated by climate change. These strategies include crop rotation, no-till practices, and efficient water management, complemented by organic and commercial fertilizers.
An ILM approach refers to long-term collaboration between diverse stakeholders to foster the resilience of natural resources at the landscape scale.
Through careful participatory planning and adaptive strategies involving all stakeholders, ILM ensures resilience to environmental challenges while promoting harmonious coexistence between nature and human activities.
CABI highlights the value of soil data, as demonstrated by its leadership role in improving national soil information systems in various countries. Investments in data infrastructure have already demonstrated significant improvements in soil health and farmer livelihoods. In addition, initiatives such as the Optimizing Fertilizer Recommendations for Africa project have resulted in tools such as the Fertiliser Optimisation and Calibration Tools, improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of fertilizers for African farmers.
The optimization tool helps farmers optimize fertilizer use. For example, it optimizes the different functions of crop nutrients and allocates available funds to the crop nutrient rate options that are likely to generate the most profit. The calibration tool ensures the correct means and application rate, for fertilizer, manure or other inputs.
The African Union’s commitment to provide targeted agronomic recommendations to 70% of smallholder farmers by 2034 underscores the need for sustained action. This includes the implementation of the African Fertilizer Financing Mechanism outlined in the Nairobi Declaration, which is critical to scaling up fertilizer production, supply and distribution, and soil health interventions.
However, despite these advances, sustainability remains paramount. Balancing fertilizer use to avoid environmental damage while promoting agricultural productivity is essential. Strategies such as integrating biofertilizers with chemical fertilizers can improve nutrient availability while promoting soil health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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