fertilizer |
ECA's Nassirou Ba,
an agricultural economist, who spoke during the event said a combination
of rising population and degrading soils make it necessary to increase
use of fertilizers in Africa.
"Africa's
population is growing fast and is expected to reach 2 billion by 2050.
However, soils in the continent are among the most degraded in the
world. The challenge therefore is to produce enough food to feed this
growing population. For this to happen, agricultural productivity has to
increase through use of fertilizers as well as improved seeds and other
technologies."
Mr. Ba added that
although low use of fertilizers is not the only impediment to increased
productivity in Africa, "no country in the world has been able to grow
its agriculture without use of fertilizers."
It was also argued
during the conference that Africa's low agricultural productivity, in
relation to its fast growing population, could partly be blamed on
limited or no access - in some cases - to adequate and sufficient
fertilizers by smallholder farmers. The continent reportedly loses on
average over $4 billion worth of soil nutrients per year, meanwhile it
accounts for only about 10% of the world average in fertilizer use.
The forum, which
brought together, international fertilizer companies, development
agencies government officials and farmers' organizations from across
sub-Sahara Africa, provided a great opportunity for ECA's Ba to present a
study by the Commission titled, " Promotion of Fertilizer Production,
Cross-border Trade and Consumption in Africa."
The ECA study calls
for the harmonization of fertilizer regulations and policies,
improvement of transport infrastructure and improved public-private
partnerships in line with the fertilizer sector in Africa, among other
things.
During the
three-day event, over 500 participants from 55 countries discussed
current challenges in the agricultural sector and practical solutions
that can create enabling environments for fertilizer supply and
distribution, improve access to finance and develop infrastructure,
which in turn will broaden intra-Africa trade, increase fertilizer
consumption in Africa, and ultimately increase agricultural productivity
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