Dear readers,

Fertilizer use in Africa is extremely low and insufficient to maintain agricultural productivity at a satisfactory level. According to statistics from the International Fertilizer Association, only 3% and 1.7% of global fertilizer and potash consumption, respectively, is in Africa. Comparing the use of fertilizers across the continent to China and India, which also have no significant food exports, shows that on average, these two countries apply 37 kg and 23 kg of NPK nutrients per capita per year respectively, compared with just 4.5 kg applied to African farmland. Such minimal nutrient application is one of the key factors contributing to Africa’s huge food import bill, currently standing at around US$35 billion per year.

Judicious fertilizer application requires, in the first instance, measuring soil and plant nutrient requirements. Results from African soils after many years of depletion show that it is not just nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium which are needed, but also sulfur, zinc, boron and other essential micro-nutrients. As a result, effective dissemination of knowledge to farmers and fertilizer application requires skilled and well-trained people along the fertilizer value chain in order to address this more complex challenge.

It is high time, therefore, that the fertilizer industry made an impact in terms of increased food production across the continent by providing appropriate tools for measuring site specific fertilizer requirements and forming partnerships to build fertilizer and nutrient management knowledge throughout the value chain.

I wish you an enjoyable read.

Hillel Magen
Director