Amid the fertiliser crisis, Africa has a chemical-free option: Agroecology
Key takeaways
- Amid the looming fertiliser crisis, African states should invest in sustainable agriculture to increase yields and food.
- The conflict is driving up the costs of fuel, fertilisers, plastics and transport, resulting in higher food prices for communities from Manila to Quito.
- International agencies are particularly concerned about the implications for Africa, where hundreds of millions face food shortages and where many countries are highly dependent on food imports.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Amid the looming fertiliser crisis, African states should invest in sustainable agriculture to increase yields and food.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Worker Awa Dione carries a container with eggplants freshly harvested on a field of farmer Mor Kabe in the outskirts of Notto Gouye Diama village, Thies region, Senegal on January 24, 2023 [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]More than two months into the US-Israel war on Iran, it appears we are veering towards another global food crisis. The conflict is driving up the costs of fuel, fertilisers, plastics and transport, resulting in higher food prices for communities from Manila to Quito. And now food production is at risk, with upwards of 20 percent of global fertiliser exports unable to move through the Straight of Hormuz and shipments of natural gas and sulphur, vital to the production of fertilisers elsewhere, blocked.
International agencies are particularly concerned about the implications for Africa, where hundreds of millions face food shortages and where many countries are highly dependent on food imports. Now, some high-level officials at development banks are calling for urgent actions to secure more fertilisers for African countries in order to deal with the looming crisis.