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Fertilizer and Nutrient Management Strategies to Build Soil Health in African Agriculture
(2023-11) Bindraban, Prem S.; Upendra Singh; Rob JJ Groot; Bernard Vanlauwe; Kido Kouassi; Patrice Annequin
There is broad consensus that sustainable intensification is the most effective pathway to improve food security and reduce poverty on the African continent. Healthy soils form the foundation to sustainably increase crop yields that can be maintained through Integrated Soil Fertility Management which integrates the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers for balanced nutrition along with other agronomic practices. However, current cultivation practices of insufficient use of fertilizers cause soil nutrient mining and degradation of African soils and farm communities to spiral into poverty. The African Union has embraced this notion to maintain the health of soils through ISFM and plans to endorse the approach at their Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit in June 2023, in Dakar, Senegal. An action plan is under construction to implement soil health improvement practices. Awareness around the importance of soils and the need for the judicious use of fertilizers has been growing in the international development arena and donors are committing themselves to contribute to the action plan. This presentation will elaborate on the outcomes of the Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit and the committed actions to improve soil health on the African continent for agricultural intensification.