Dear Ademola,
could you comment on the issue that came up during the discussion here in Berlin at the Global Soil Week, namely the fact that currently in many sub-Saharan African countries fertilizer consumption is heavily biased towards Nitrogen (way beyond what plant require)? I was wondering whether World Bank efforts to stimulate the use of fertilizer by smallholder farmers in Africa, such as by introducing market-smart subsidies, take this issue into account.
As you know, mineral N fertilizer acts as a "quick fix" with the highest benefit-cost ratio. By applying mineral N fertilizer only, however, there is a high risk that soil fertility is lost even more rapidly than without any mineral fertilizer application. Do we make sure that farmers are made aware of this risk? And do market-smart fertilizer subsidies take this into account, e.g. by subsidizing mineral N fertilizer less (or not at all?) than phosphate or potassium fertilizers?
Another related aspect is the knowledge of the soil fertility constraints. It will be difficult for a farmer to decide which fertilizer to buy (subsidized or not), if she/he does not know what the soil/crop needs. Would be nice to hear from you, how The World Bank is tackling this issue.
Dear Ademola,
could you comment on the issue that came up during the discussion here in Berlin at the Global Soil Week, namely the fact that currently in many sub-Saharan African countries fertilizer consumption is heavily biased towards Nitrogen (way beyond what plant require)? I was wondering whether World Bank efforts to stimulate the use of fertilizer by smallholder farmers in Africa, such as by introducing market-smart subsidies, take this issue into account.
As you know, mineral N fertilizer acts as a "quick fix" with the highest benefit-cost ratio. By applying mineral N fertilizer only, however, there is a high risk that soil fertility is lost even more rapidly than without any mineral fertilizer application. Do we make sure that farmers are made aware of this risk? And do market-smart fertilizer subsidies take this into account, e.g. by subsidizing mineral N fertilizer less (or not at all?) than phosphate or potassium fertilizers?
Another related aspect is the knowledge of the soil fertility constraints. It will be difficult for a farmer to decide which fertilizer to buy (subsidized or not), if she/he does not know what the soil/crop needs. Would be nice to hear from you, how The World Bank is tackling this issue.