international fertilizer correspondent No 3

Four 'A's attract attention

Awareness, Availability, Accessibility and Affordability - all are closely linked, positively or negatively, when it comes to the use of fertilizer, especially potash. How can farmers, who have never had the means, nor the inclination, to purchase fertilizer, be encouraged to start using it, thereby spinning the cycle of positive feedback in the direction of greater use, greater benefit and lower price?

In sub-Saharan Africa, most smallholder, subsistence farmers have little or no experience of using fertilizer. If total fertilizer use is averaged over the 10% of the world's cultivable land that sub-Saharan Africa possesses, the results show that, per hectare, N, P₂O₅ and K₂O use is far below that used elsewhere and, in the case of potash, averages to 1.2 kg per hectare. Furthermore, while current crop removal exceeds fertilizer application by 2.7, 1.1 and 3.6 million tonnes of N, P₂O₅ and K₂O respectively, the deficit in the K balance is growing at a rate of about 58,000 tonnes annually. The net effect of this low use, and the rising population on the continent, is that per capita fertilizer use is falling from what is, in any case, a lamentably low level, and so too is per capita cereal production. Given this unsatisfactory spiral of impoverished soil and impoverished farmers, is it not time to bring in the first of the 'A's - Awareness?

When fertilizers are introduced to smallholder farmers for the first time, they quickly become aware of its benefits. There is, however, a continuing tendency to be unaware of the specific role of, and therefore need for, K. This is because low-yielding, subsistence crops can obtain sufficient quantities from weathered minerals and plant residues, provided that the latter are put back on the land and not used for fuel or thatching, purposes for which they are much valued. Furthermore, potassium acts on quality and it acts discreetly. This means that unless farmers can earn a premium for higher quality produce there is little incentive to pay for a nutrient whose omission does not immediately become apparent. Crops that are stressed through lack of K are more susceptible to drought, diseases and pests, not least because the yellowing of leaves positively attracts aphids. Short-term trials often fail to show good response to K application. In addition, such trials are often conveniently placed close to easy access roads in fertile valleys where K fertility is not an issue. It is on higher land that K is in short supply and where crops respond well to its use.

Linked to the lack of awareness is the lack of advice. In many countries of sub-Saharan Africa, government advisory services are in disarray and, even if extension officers are aware of the appropriate use of fertilizers, their limited funding prevents them from promoting them properly.

Lack of awareness leads to lack of demand and lack of the second 'A' - Availability. Input suppliers target commercial growers and do not waste their marketing resources targeting farmers who cannot afford to buy the product. SG 2000 (a partnership of two NGOs, the Sasakawa Africa Association whose President is Nobel Prize Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug, and Global 2000, whose Chairman is former U.S. President Jimmy Carter) is collaborating with several major, transnational agribusinesses specifically to overcome this problem. Not only is this what farmers themselves want but governments and donors recognize that foreign private sector investment is crucial to achieving the growth rates needed to reduce poverty, ensure greater food security and protect the natural resource base. The message, says SG 2000, is clear, "Farmers cultivating Africa's better lands should, and must, use modern research information and higher input levels to produce more food."

The logistical problems associated with purchasing fertilizer, when there are no suppliers in the immediate neighbourhood, and the only means of travel available to smallholder farmers is by foot or by bicycle, highlights another of the 'A's - Accessibility. Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are not in the vehicle-owning class. They need a local supplier who, in turn, needs to be confident that the purchased stock will be sold. Here, perhaps, is the pivotal point at which accessibility, availability and affordability come together.

Fertilizer in sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionately expensive. The reasons are many, from inefficient port handling of imported chemicals to high road transport costs. A 50kg bag is beyond the means of smallholder farmers. In western Kenya it may be equivalent in price to 18 days labouring wage or the price of a 90kg bag of maize and, for most farmers, access to credit is out of the question. Affordability, with a capital 'A', is critical. Work undertaken by a Kenyan NGO - Sustainable Community-Oriented Development Programme (SCODP) - and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID and others, has demonstrated that if farmers can purchase fertilizer in 1kg or 2kg bags, they will undertake their own trials, returning in subsequent seasons for larger quantities. Once the demand is established, new retail outlets spring up, quick to take advantage of the business. With Affordability and Awareness come Accessibility and Availability. Sub-Saharan Africa needs the four 'A's.