African leaders reinforce fertilizer, soil management...

 * Say Africa loses US$4B yearly...

H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat Chairperson of the AU Commission 

The recently concluded Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi, Kenya has declared strong support for increased sustainable soil management with more patronage to locally produced fertilizers, just as it was observed that the continent losses US$4 billion yearly on soil degradation.

The African Heads of State and Government made this declaration at the close of three days meeting held last week from May 7- 9th 2024 where thirteen ( 13) resolutions after a very comprehensive discussion towards a virile proficient agricultural value chains system driven by the multi stakeholders in a synchronized partnership to the restoration of the nutritional balance of the continent 's soil with the increased use of quality locally made fertilizers.

The leaders posited multi stakeholders partnerships and investment to drive policies, finance, research, markets and building capacity for fertilizer and sustainable soil health management across Africa towards food security and sustainable productivity system.

Also organic and inorganic fertilizers are declared to be trippled in production domestically by 2034 so as to improve access of small holder farmers with ecologies specification to soil and crops towards increase yield in food production.

The leaders charged the African Union Commission to mobilize financial and technical resources to execute the commitment in close cooperation with the various existing climate funds thereby approving 10 year action plan for fertilizer and soil health management towards enhanced food productivity in Africa.

Over 4,000 participants in the Agricultural sector including 57 ministers of agriculture and foreign affairs, scientists, heads of development organizations, civil organizations were involved in the fertilizer and soil discussions during the three days meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Throughout the 3 days, emphasis was laid on severe soil depletion in the continent by the leaders saying it has hindered optimal crops' yield and threatening food security.

" It is estimated that the continent loses over US$4 billion worth of soil nutrients each year, severely risking Africa's ability to feed itself. Yet, a broad base of African farmers neither have access to fertilizer nor can they afford inputs needed to add life to their soils to reverse the downward spiral of the degradation of the physical environment "

Leaders of the member countries spoke in the following order

His Excellency ( HE) Dr. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, appreciated the summit's timeliness saying it has coincided with the launch of his government's new framework for sustainable soil management, which he said would guide investments and efforts to improve the health and resilience of the country's soil.

He pointed that  “60% of the world's uncultivated arable land is in Africa, we possess the largest potential for food production and become a global food basket. Prioritizing investments in nitrogen fertilizer production facilities is essential. Secondly, developing mechanisms for real time tracking of fertilizer market trends to ensure timely availability is crucial. Additionally, we need sustainable strategies to make fertilizers more affordable and accessible. Enhancing last-mile logistics for fertilizer distribution is equally critical. Moreover, building farmers' capacities for effective fertilizer use and soil health improvement is imperative.

H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, reiterated the imperative of accelerated action on the commitments of the Nairobi Declaration to make up for lost time and advance towards the goals of earlier declarations, including the Abuja, Malabo, and Maputo , as well as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP).

Faki Mahamat pointed out that even as some African countries produce fertilizer, the high dependency on import had made local production very expensive "the African Center for Fertilizer Development based in Zimbabwe has been in existence since the 1980’s. We must optimise use of such existing Continental assets to boost local fertilizer production and deliver quality fertilizers to African farmers at affordable prices. This is imperative if we are to improve the Continent’s agricultural sector towards being key to our food sovereignty and security"

H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, former Ethiopian Prime Minister and AGRA board chairman emphasized on a multi pronged approach to safeguarding the health of African soil as key, saying it was not just focusing on enhancing food security, but also securing environmental sustainability. 

Dessalegn added that the low fertiliser usage, and poor soil health continue to undermine sustainable agriculture production and productivity particularly among communal and small-holder farmers. This he said was compounded by climate change, inadequate infrastructure and mechanisation. 

H.E. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe underscored the need to deliberately support and increase investments in Agriculture saying that “It is unfortunate that despite the inherent potential, Africa currently spends billions of dollars in food and fertilizer imports per year. Greater efforts must be made to leverage the availability of raw materials for the local production of mineral fertilizers and reduce our over-reliance on imports"

H.E. Mr Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, called for synergy and collaboration between policy makers and the private sector. “We shouldn't depend on others to supply us with fertilizers from outside the continent, therefore we need to invest to increase the capacity to produce fertilizers internally using our raw material that are available. The continent has these raw materials which must be exploited effectively and we need to invest in order to exploit these resources"

H.E. Lazarus Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi observed that the missing link to Africa’s food security is the health of the soil, adding that Malawi has developed a 10-year action plan on fertilizer and soil health to domesticate the continental framework.

He said  “Our goal is to improve soil health. Improve the usage of organic and inorganic fertilizers, improve soil productivity, and reduce soil degradation and soil erosion. In so doing we will reverse the negative trend in the deterioration of our soil health through a set of interventions that have been outlined in the action plan"

H.E. Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, President of the Republic of Namibia, underscored the importance of a holistic approach as a critical element for addressing food demands in Africa and ensuring the long-term sustainability of global food production systems. “A balanced approach to soil fertilizer management is critical. Integrating mineral and organic fertilizers and other soil management techniques to create a sustainable agricultural system that meets both the current and future food needs without compromising the soil health of the continent."

H.E. Faustine Archange Touadera, President of the Republic of Central African Republic emphasized the urgency for increased productivity to boost agricultural growth and sustainable economic development. “Fertilizer has to be affordable and available to farmers because if it's not, then we will not achieve the intended objective of increasing productivity and increase use to 50kgs/ha. We have to acknowledge that nearly 70% of the active population is involved in agricultural production. However, the quality of our soils is a problem for Africa's food production in spite of the abundance of arable land.”

The summit called on the African Union Commission and AUDA-NEPAD to develop the partnerships and institutional arrangements for implementation of the Nairobi declaration and report to the Ordinary Session of the Assembly in February 2026.