Experts met in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday to discuss ways to increase fertilizer use among farmers in Africa.
NAIROBI, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Experts met in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday to discuss ways to increase fertilizer use among farmers in Africa.
The three-day African Fertilizer and Soil Health Post-Summit workshop brought together more than 100 delegates from the African Union (AU), regional economic blocs, researchers as well as government officials from across Africa to enhance the use of fertilizer to boost food security in the region.
"Fertilizer consumption among smallholder farmers, who make up most farmers in the region and farm most of the land, has grown in the past decade, but it is still far below what is needed as farmers face numerous challenges that limit their effective fertilizer demand," said Panduleni Elago, senior adviser at the AU Commission's Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program.
Elago noted that the majority of farmers have limited access to finance, which also affects their demand for fertilizer and other inputs.
Jean Baptiste Havugimana, director of productive sectors at the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, said the continent has initiated many programs, including the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism, which is a special fund that seeks to improve agricultural productivity by providing the financing required to boost fertilizer use in Africa to achieve the target of 50 kg of nutrients per hectare.
Havugimana said the EAC Fertilizer Policy provides a roadmap to develop legal instruments, strategies, and projects in the fertilizer industry to achieve food security and rational agricultural production.
Tilahun Amede, head of Resilience, Climate and Soil Fertility at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, said agro-dealers and other rural entrepreneurs can play a role in triggering farmers' demand for new fertilizer products through innovative measures that blend micro-nutrients to boost soil health.
Wole Fatunbi, acting director of research and innovation at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, which is the apex continental body for agricultural research, said that crop yields are low as a result of insufficient use of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, coupled with a dependency on rain-fed agriculture. ■
