At the 2nd Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit held in Kenya, African Heads of State adopted the Nairobi Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health under the theme ‘Listen to the Soil’.
Key points of the Nairobi Declaration
Promotion of domestic fertilizer production
- Emphasis on localism: Under this announcement, a commitment has been made to give priority to domestic fertilizer production and triple it in the next 10 years to boost agricultural production.
- This will be realized through prioritizing local production and blending of mineral fertilizers using locally available raw materials.
- Emphasis on Research and Development: The Heads of State also committed to strengthening research and development on the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers through the revival of the African Fertilizer Development Center in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Efforts to increase fertilizer consumption
- The summit acknowledged that the recent global fertilizer crisis has adversely affected Africa. This has led to a 25% year-on-year decline in fertilizer consumption in the year 2022.
- According to this summit, since the adoption of the Abuja Declaration at the first summit in 2006, fertilizer consumption across the continent has increased from an average of 8 kg/hectare to only 18 kg/hectare which is well below the target set in this declaration ( 50 kg/hectare).
Emphasis on investment
- The conference called for collaborative research and development, capacity building as well as cross-country learning and sharing of best practices as well as investment pooling to enhance the capacity of countries and the continent for fertilizer production.
- Emphasis was placed on promoting investment in irrigation as part of integrated soil and water resources management to increase nutrient use efficiency and climate change resilience.
Emphasis on multi-stakeholder partnership
- Utilizing multi-stakeholder partnerships and investments to drive policies, finance, research and development as well as markets and capacity building for fertilizer and sustainable soil health management in Africa.
Fertilizer requirement of specific crops
- The importance of using crop-specific fertilizers should also be reiterated as each crop is unique and extracts nutrients from the soil at different levels.
Rationalizing subsidies
- Leaders committed to reverse land degradation and restore the health of at least 30% of degraded soils by 2034 through innovative incentive mechanisms, including reviving existing fertilizer subsidy programs.
Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism
- Leaders committed to fully operationalize the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism to improve the production, procurement and distribution of organic and inorganic fertilizers and soil health interventions.
- It is hosted by the African Development Bank.
Soil erosion in africa
- Extreme weather events like desertification and floods are currently occurring in Africa due to rapid soil erosion. Climate change has led to a sharp decline in Africa’s agricultural productivity.
Efforts to stop soil erosion
- The African Union has developed the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan to address soil health issues in African countries.
- The Soil Initiative for Africa is a long-term framework aligned with Agenda 2063 while the Action Plan has a 10-year duration.