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President Ruto sells his fertiliser project to African leaders
President William Ruto was speaking at the African Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi on Thursday, where he said Africa should work towards ensuring affordable, quality and accessible fertiliser through local production.
President William Ruto has urged African leaders to entrench production incentives and leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area to improve market access and profitability for farmers.
Dr Ruto was speaking at the African Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi on Thursday, where he said Africa should work towards ensuring affordable, quality and accessible fertiliser through local production.
“Pan-African integration will also provide a basis to harness research, science, and technology to develop a robust African Soil Information System, support a community of soil health experts across various sectors, and enhance research and soil testing facilities to support informed decision-making,” he said.
In this way, he explained, “we will enhance farm productivity and production, and drive our own progress in food security.”
According to Dr Ruto, Africa remains heavily dependent on food imports and continues to face many serious challenges that hamper its efforts and investments in improving agricultural productivity.
Inadequate use of fertilisers
He said inadequate use of fertilisers, extreme climatic events such as floods and severe droughts, and extensive land degradation, among others, point to the broader issue of poor soil health.
In addition, President Ruto said, volatile fertiliser prices and supply chain disruptions, exacerbated by conflicts in producing regions, require deep reflection on how to ensure adequate, affordable and sustainable fertiliser production and supply across Africa.
“To achieve Africa's green revolution, large-scale subsidized fertiliser use is a necessary imperative… This Summit presents an opportunity to collectively deliberate and sustain our ambition by converting challenges into opportunities. To achieve this, we must assess our current situation within the broader context of Africa's potential,” President Ruto said.
The Head of State added that Africa has more than 60 per cent of the world's uncultivated arable land, which means it is operating far below its agricultural capacity.
“This vast potential underscores our ability and obligation to transform Africa from a hungry continent into a self-sufficient global breadbasket,” Dr Ruto said.
Increasing fertiliser usage
“Our focus should not only be on increasing fertiliser usage but also on ensuring its judicious application to revitalise responsive soils and rehabilitate degraded ones.”
To turn this situation around, other African countries like Kenya had to decide to make inputs, especially fertiliser, more accessible and affordable.
“I stand here to make a strong case for a common strategy, collective action, joint investment, and logistical collaboration to ensure every arable acre of Africa's land receives the right type and quantity of fertiliser. This transformation will shift our agricultural production from deficit to surplus,” President Ruto said.
