Nourishing the Future: Reflections on the Follow-up to the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit
DOWNLOADAugust 29, 2024 - David Tschirley
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EmailA cursory glance at the latest data on the state of Africa’s food and nutrition reveals a grim reality: according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over 282 million Africans are chronically undernourished, a number exacerbated by the back-to-back effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. The continent’s food security crisis is further underscored by the fact that over a billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, with children disproportionately affected; approximately 30% of African children are stunted due to malnutrition...
Key Messages
• Current Crisis: Africa faces a severe food security crisis with over 282 million chronically undernourished and over a billion unable to afford a healthy diet. Poverty and inadequate and inefficient food production are both at the root of this crisis.
• Summit Goals: The African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit aimed to address agricultural productivity through an Action Plan emphasizing sustainable intensification and soil health.
• Need for Change: Achieving progress requires deep localization in policy design and “hyper-localization” of technical recommendations, moving away from a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
• Hyper-Localization: Applying the "4R" nutrient management principles (right source, right rate, right time, right place) to improve fertilizer efficiency is crucial.
• Deep Localization and Nth-Best Solutions: Effective policies must be developed through localized processes, resulting in solutions that, while potentially far from technical “best practice”, are adapted to local technical, political, and social realities and can be implemented.
• Attitude and Behavior Changes: Success requires changes in attitudes among governments, analysts, researchers, and donors, focusing on local information and equitable partnerships. • Conclusion: A rethinking of approaches to agricultural productivity is needed, de-emphasizing “best practices” and emphasizing incorporation of local empirical data into solutions that are workable in their local context.
