Africa’s soil revolution set to power sustainable and food secure future

Healthy soils sequester carbon, enhance biodiversity, and build climate resilience.

Yet Africa’s smallholder farmers who are the backbone of food systems only apply just 18kg of fertiliser per hectare in average in Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 13 percent of the global average. Systemic gaps in supply services inappropriate agronomic advisory services, and inadequate local fertiliser production perpetuate degraded soils, stagnant yields, and climate vulnerability.

The Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit Declaration, endorsed by heads of state in May 2024 in Nairobi sets bold targets of tripling domestic fertiliser production, rehabilitating 30 percent of degraded land, and equipping 70 percent of smallholders with tailored guidance by 2034.

Several countries have begun integrating the declaration’s commitments into their National Agricultural Investment Plans, with governments like Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe Zambia and Ethiopia initiating policy reviews to prioritise domestic fertiliser production and soil health investments.

Soil health address food security, economic growth, and climate adaptation.

Actionable investments are critical at National level. Local fertiliser ventures led by women and youth, digital soil health platforms, and last-mile input distribution networks can ignite rural economies.

The parallels between Africa’s energy and agriculture transitions are striking. Renewable energy lifts communities from poverty; sustainable farming reduces malnutrition on the other hand, builds resilience, and curbs emissions.

The Food and Land Use Coalition (Folu), co-convened by AGRA in 2023, emphasizes policy coherence and collaboration. Governments must fund soil labs, soil mapping, extension services, and rural infrastructure, while partners align initiatives with national priorities to avoid fragmentation.

This transition requires going beyond external aid to grow domestic resource mobilisation and innovative financing models. Africa’s digital revolution, with 60 percent of farmers owning mobile phones, can democratise access to agronomic advice and market data, bridging critical gaps.

Farmers must however lead their own transformation. Solutions must respect local knowledge and ecology. The “4 Rs” of nutrient stewardship—right source, right rate, right time, and right place—must adapt to contexts from Kenya’s highlands to Senegal’s drylands, ensuring practices are both scalable and sustainable.

During this year’s Earth Day, let us pledge to triple renewable energy capacity and equally soil health investments by 2030. Restoring degraded soils could vastly boost yields, shifting Africa from food importer to agricultural leader. Each dollar invested in soil health yields $10 in economic returns via nutrition, jobs, and environmental benefits.

Africa’s soil revolution is a strategic imperative. Blending innovation with tradition, and global expertise with local leadership, can marry thriving ecosystems with prosperous communities.

AGRA and partners are poised to advance this vision, but success demands unity. Governments, businesses, NGOs, and farmers must all rally around this movement, soil health as the core of Africa’s green growth.

Just as sunlight fuels solar panels, healthy soils energise societies. Let us harness this renewable force to forge a resilient, nourished, healthy and equitable future for Africa and the world.

The writer is a senior specialist, Soil Health and Integrated Management, AGRA