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The month of May, 2024 is here and almost gone. A key highlight of the month was the recent African Union (AU) Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit held in Nairobi on 7 – 9 May which informs the topic of this month’s blog article.
This Summit has informed a revisit of the topic of Soil Health versus Soil Fertility and the major difference between the two; What is the difference between the two?
‘At the recent African Union (AU) Fertilizer & Soil Health Summit in Nairobi on 7-9 May, African leaders unveiled the new 10-year Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan 2023-2033. Designed to maintain soil fertility and ensure soil health across the continent, the roadmap adopts an approach that combines both chemical and organic fertilisers with improved seeds and agrochemicals.
The plan aims to “significantly increase investments in the local manufacturing and distribution of mineral and organic fertilizers, biofertilizers and biostimulants” and to “triple fertilizer use from 18 kg/ha in 2020 nutrients to 54 kg/ha in 2033”.
Aspects of the 10-year action plan suggest a shift from quick chemical fixes to sustainable practices that enhance biodiversity, regenerate the land, and empower local communities. However, while this hints at a more hopeful imagined future, policymakers at the Nairobi summit largely skirted around the deeper issues at stake. The focus remained narrowly on the production and distribution of predominantly chemical fertilisers, while largely neglecting their broader social, economic, and ecological impacts.
While the spotlight was on increasing fertiliser use, for instance, the sustained health of the soil that feeds us was all but overlooked. Our soils are not merely depleted – they are in crisis. And decades of reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides have not only failed to address this crisis but have exacerbated it, leading to acidification, erosion, and loss of essential microbial diversity. This damage calls for a radical rethink of the use of nitrogen fertilisers and our agricultural practices. We need to move beyond adding more fertilisers towards healing the soil’…(emphasis is mine)