Scaling up fertiliser use to increase productivity
Peace Kayesu, the founder of Kaynela Farms in Kayunga inspects pineapples on the farm. PHOTO/GEORGE KATONGOLE.
What you need to know:
African countries still have continued to use inorganic fertilisers more than organic fertilisers. However, synthetic materials kill microorganisms, and with time, farmers find themselves cultivating in dead soil. There is a need to increase agricultural productivity in Africa by boosting the use of fertilisers, with a target of at least 50 kilograms of fertiliser per hectare. Africa is now adopting the African Union’s Fertiliser and Soil Health Action Plan (2023-2033) which aims to increase investments in the local production and distribution of both organic and inorganic fertilisers, ensuring they reach 70 percent of smallholder farmers across the continent, as Marko Taibot writes.
The pace of soil degradation on the continent is high, threatening the sustainability of agricultural production. This has compelled leaders of the African Union (AU) to scale up the use of fertilisers across the continent to enhance the productivity of farmers. According to the AU’s Fertiliser and Soil Health Action Plan (2023-2033), about 75-80 percent of the continent’s cultivated area is degraded, with a loss of 30 to 60 kilograms of nutrients per hectare per year. This annual loss is valued at USD 4 billion (Shs14.4 trillion). The AU's Fertiliser and Soil Health Action Plan (2023-2033) is a ten-year strategy to improve soil health, increase fertiliser use efficiency, and boost agricultural productivity across Africa to address food insecurity.
The Action Plan states that more than 485 million people (65 percent of the population) on the continent are affected. Projections suggested that more than half of the currently arable land may be unusable by 2050 if fertiliser use is not catalysed. The recent global fertiliser crisis has disproportionately affected Africa, with a decline of 25 percent in fertiliser consumption from 2019 to 2022, which is expected to decrease food production by 30 million metric tons of grains. This is an amount sufficient to feed over 60-90 million people for a year in Africa. The ten-year Action Plan reasserts the 2006 Abuja Declaration goal to triple fertiliser use in Africa to 50 kilograms per hectare of arable land.
Today, the average fertiliser use rate stands at about 18 kilograms, less than half of the target set in 2006. There is a vast disparity in the uptake of fertiliser use within Africa, which ranges from 0.03 kilograms per hectare in Sudan and 1.04 kilograms per hectare in Somalia to 542.47 kilograms per hectare in Seychelles and 542.57 kilograms per hectaire in Egypt, the highest figure recorded by an African country. Only 10 countries met or surpassed the 50 kilograms per hectare goal, and these include Morocco, Eswatini, Botswana, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Egypt.
Despite producing around 30 million metric tons of mineral fertiliser annually, many African countries still heavily rely on imports, particularly non-phosphate-based fertilisers, leaving them vulnerable to market shocks. On the other hand, soil scientists, agricultural experts, activists, and farmer groups have denounced the Action Plan’s reliance on chemical fertilisers. They emphasise that soil health goes beyond the quick fixes provided by chemical fertilisers.
A close look at Kenya Fertiliser use is a key input for enhancing agricultural productivity and food security in Kenya. However, many small-scale farmers in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) face challenges in accessing and using fertiliser effectively. Eng Laban Kiplaget, the director of Agricultural Resources in the Ministry of Agriculture, states that while the country is still using inorganic fertilisers, the government has opened space for the private sector to manufacture organic fertilisers. “Although the interest in using organic fertiliser is there, there are no available quantities for commercial values yet. The Government of Kenya has taken several measures to promote fertiliser use including subsidising the prices of fertiliser,” he says.
For example, in 2010, the government reduced the price of DAP fertiliser from Ksh6,000 (Shs167,000) to Ksh2,500 (Shs70,000) and the price of CAN fertilizer from Ksh6,000 (Shs167,000) to Ksh 1,650 (Shs46,000) per 50-kilogram bag. “In 2022, the government availed Ksh3.55 billion (Shs99 billion) to subsidise 1.42 million bags of fertiliser for use during the short rainy season. In 2023, the government unveiled a Ksh5.7 billion (Shs159 billion) fertiliser subsidy fund to subsidise prices for 2.28 million bags of fertiliser,” he adds. The organic fertiliser sector in Kenya began around 2010, with significant growth seen since 2014. According to data from Biovision Africa Trust, the three main constraints are efficacy and awareness, affordability and quality, and availability and accessibility of organic fertiliser.
Although many farmers use home-produced manure and compost, few have experience with commercial organic fertilizeer. Only 6.4 percent of the surveyed farmers had used commercial organic fertilisers. “Financial constraints and the certification and obtaining standards are the challenges facing the fertiliser uptake in Kenya. A National Agro-Ecology strategy is being drafted to scale up the manufacture of organic fertiliser,” says Mutuma Muriuki, the vice chairperson of the Organic Fertilizer and Input Manufacturers Association of Kenya (OFIMAK).
James Mulwana, a tomato farmer in Nakifuma. He says high fertiliser prices mean high costs of production, which call for sustainable means of production. PHOTO/GEORGE KATONGOLE.
Other African countries
Richie Ahujam an independent consultant, notes that African countries still rank law in manufacturing fertilisers. “In 2022, some countries that exported fertilisers are Morocco (5.54 percent), Egypt (3.09 percent), Algeria (1.47 percent), Nigeria (1.4 percent), and South Africa (0.44 percent). If we want to achieve the fertiliser transition, we must not put business ahead of science and policies,” he says. Dr Alex Awiti, a principal scientist at the Center for International Forest Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), says it is now unequivocal that a real African Green revolution has to rely on strong investment, policy support, and innovation to bring organics into play. “This is a momentous junction for Africa, and the policymakers now have to open the door to support innovation in organics. Anybody who wants to invest in food system transformation in Africa has to work down this path,” he stresses.
Chemical fertilisers have extensively damaged soil. Stephen Muchiri, the chief executive officer of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), observes that the use of inorganic fertilisers was never meant to be the foundation of crop production. “We abandoned good agricultural practices that incorporated agroecology, conservation farming, and mixed farming and embraced intensive commercially inclined farming. Our soils are now poor, acidic, and low in biomass resources, and without life,” he says. Elizabeth Atieno Opolo, a food campaigner for Greenpeace Africa, expressed that the ten-year action plan underscores a continued reliance on synthetic solutions that sideline the real needs of Africa, particularly its small-scale farmers. “We have witnessed projects like these falter without meaningful benefits for years.
A farmer displaying the organic fertiliser she uses in her garden. PHOTO/MARKO TAIBOT
Why then do we persist with approaches that do not work? Meanwhile, multinational corporations reap billions of dollars in profits, leaving African farmers grappling with increasing food insecurities,” she says. Atieno calls for an urgent need to shift our attention towards investing in local agro-ecological knowledge, promoting community-based initiatives, phasing out synthetic inputs, and implementing policies to protect small-scale farmers. Hakim Baliraine, the chairperson of the Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) Uganda, welcomes the ten-year Action Plan to improve the health of Africa’s soils. However, the failure to consult farmers who are key to delivering this plan means there are significant gaps.
“How can farmers triple the use and production of mineral fertiliser when they are struggling to pay for what they use now? This burdens farmers with more debt and promotes the use of chemical fertilisers that are killing soils,” he says. Baliraine appeals to African leaders and funders to set a clearer vision for African agriculture suggesting that they must empower small-holder farmers to produce more environmentally-friendly organic fertiliser. “They must support a shift to more sustainable and resilient agro-ecological approaches that will conserve Mother Earth and can produce healthy food for generations to come,” he says. [email protected].
Call for action
Dr Axel Schmidt, the Agriculture Science and Research Advisor at the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), says the Soils Initiative for Africa and the ten-year Action Plan represent a pivotal step towards advancing sustainable landscapes and livelihoods. “This initiative holds immense potential to spark a continent-wide movement focused on transforming degraded landscapes into socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable regions where communities can thrive. The pairing of soil health and fertiliser is a critical combination, as fertiliser alone cannot provide the much-needed benefits to both farmer livelihoods and landscapes,” he says.
owever, he says, turning these national commitments into concrete results hinges on local action. Nations must integrate the steps proposed in the 10-year Action Plan into their policies and provide support for their execution at the local level. Research is showing that inorganic fertilisers alone are not increasing yields in Africa, as 15 percent of all agricultural soils in Africa are affected by acidity levels which deter the soil’s ability to utilise nitrogen fertilisers. Meanwhile, studies show that the integration of organic and inorganic fertilisers improves crop productivity.
