Status report on fertilizer use: progress but still below Abuja target

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By Dr. Maria Wanzala - NEPAD Agency, Policy Alignment and Program Development Directorate, 25 July 2011

Some progress but much still to do. That is the the basis of a report on the status of implementation at regional and national levels of the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizers for an African Green Revolution.

Back in June 2006, the African Union Heads of State and Government adopted the 12-resolution Declaration at a special summit in Abuja. At the end of the summit, the AU Member States resolved to increase fertilizer use from 8 kilograms to 50 kilograms of nutrients per hectare by 2015.

There are some positive upward trends, the report says, but notwithstanding these commendable gains by some countries, fertilizer consumption levels are still extremely low. Average fertilizer use per hectare in Sub-Saharan Africa has remained between 5 kg/ha and 10 kg/ha since 1990. This is less than 10 percent of the world average and far below the 50 kg/ha minimum target set by the Abuja Declaration.

The report concludes that the overall progress in the implementation of the Abuja Declaration is satisfactory to good, but there is still much room for improvement.

It then spells out what needs to be done now by the AU Member States.

Click here to download the report.