8 April 2016: A report, titled ‘Boosting Africa’s Soils: From the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizers to a Sustainable Soil Management Framework for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa by 2030,’ explores how various regional plans for enhancing agricultural productivity can take “better consideration of the approaches and needs of African farmers under the umbrella of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the policy document was discussed at a high-level session on the sidelines of the 29th FAO Regional Conference for Africa (ARC29), which took place from 4-8 April, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Convened under the overall theme of ‘Transforming African Agri-food systems for Inclusive Growth and a Shared Prosperity,’ ARC29 comprised a Senior Technical Officers Meeting from 4-6 April, and a Ministerial Roundtable on 7-8 April, that focused on, among other sub-themes: the impacts of global food and agriculture trends on national and regional actions in the context of the SDGs; public-private partnerships for inclusive growth; national and regional capacities to effectively implement commitments and increase investments; and South-South Cooperation among African countries. In his opening remarks, Bukar Tijani, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, emphasized that the eradication of hunger remains at the heart of FAO support, highlighting ongoing initiatives such as the design and implementation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Zero Hunger Initiative and the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) Regional and National Agriculture Investment Plans to address food security and nutrition.

The FAO policy document notes that “Africa as a whole remains largely food insecure,” despite progress made on the policy and investment front since the 2006 ‘Abuja Declaration on Fertilizers for an African Green Revolution,’ which sought to address low agricultural productivity on the continent by increasing fertilizer use from 8.0 kg/ha to 50 kg/ha by 2015. The document cites recent estimates by the FAO’s ‘Status of the World’s Soil Resources’ report, which found that 40% of African soils were subject to moderate to severe degradation as a result of soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion, soil organic matter decline as well as soil biodiversity loss.

The document emphasizes that sustainable soil and land management in Africa is a prerequisite for achieving targets in at least four SDGs: 2.4 (ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production); 15:3 (combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world); 3.9 (substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination); and 12.4 (achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle).

FAO and the GSP call for expanding the scope of the Declaration “beyond increasing fertilizer use and creating an enabling environment,” to promoting sustainable soil management practices, “with a high level policy commitment for more efficient and economic production systems as stated in the World Soil Charter.” The policy document further suggests that achieving agricultural growth and hunger and poverty eradication targets set under more recent regional initiatives, such as the 2014 ‘Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods’ will similarly require extensive efforts to improve the productivity of Africa’s soils.

Among specific follow up actions, the policy document calls for renewed political commitment from governments and Regional Economic Commissions in Africa to deliver on the commitments made in the Abuja Declaration, setting a new timeline and targets for implementation, and recognizing that “the critical role of increased and balanced fertilizer use in increasing food production needs to be reaffirmed and policy solutions developed accordingly.” It proposes convening High-Level Ministerial Conference on Fertilizer “in the context of Integrated Soil Fertility Management as a follow up to the Abuja Conference, “in order to review progress for each country and sub-region and agree on new targets and milestones for boosting Africa’s soils.”

Other regional initiatives discussed at ARC29 included: new funding for national and regional projects under the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF), a South-South Cooperation mechanism that mobilizes resources within the continent to boost efforts to eradicate hunger and reduce malnutrition and poverty; a Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and AfricaRice, a member of the CGIAR Consortium; and an initial contribution US$20 million from the government of Côte d’Ivoire towards the establishment of the FAO/Côte d’Ivoire Partnership Programme (FCPP), which will focus on national priorities as set forth in the FAO Country Programming Framework for Côte d’Ivoire.

Held every two years, the FAO Regional Conferences are high-level consultations that explore the special problems of each region and the priority areas that should be taken into account in preparing the biennial Programme of Work and Budget, as well as longer-term programme objectives for the region. In addition to discussing the levels and nature of external support required to implement regional food and agricultural development plans the consultations also focus on the means by which countries of the region can solve their own problems through the use of their own resources. [FAO Press Release on Opening of the Regional Conference] [ARC29 Website] [GSP News Announcement] [Boosting Africa’s Soils: From the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizers to a Sustainable Soil Management Framework for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa by 2030] [FAO Press Release on Launch of FCPP] [FAO Press Release on Partnership Agreement with AfricaRice] [FAO Press Release on ASTF]