The role of sustainable fertilization - Global Food Security

UN Chronicle, Sept-Nov, 2003 by Horst Rutsch

Global Food Security and the Role of Sustainable Fertilization was the theme of an important agricultural Conference recently held in Rome, Italy. The Conference was jointly organized by the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which for some three decades have worked together, in a unique partnership, to improve farmers' access to agricultural inputs and know-how. As a follow-up to recent high-level meetings the World Food Summit (1996 and 2002), the Millennium Summit (2000) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002)--the IFA/FAO Conference examined the progress made in achieving food security around the world, as well as reducing poverty and reversing declining soil fertility in developing countries.

The Conference focus on a number of food and fertilizer challenges, including farm management systems around the world, subsistence farming in developing countries, commercial farming worldwide, emerging biotechnologies and complementary nutrient products, as well as future action for fertilizers and farming. Key speakers included FAO Deputy Director-General David Harcharik; IFA President Wladimir Puggina; World Food Prize Laureate Per Pinstrup-Andersen; Cargill Crop Nutrition President Henk Mathot; FAO Assistant Director-General Louise Fresco; Humbolt University Professor Christian Bonte-Friedheim; and Potash Corporation President William Doyle. Discussions on sustainable agricultural practices emphasized the importance of fertilizers to improve global food security and highlighted the need for greater fertilizer use in many developing countries, due to the depletion of nutrient stocks in the soil, leading to land degradation and unsustainable agricultural production,

A number of policy recommendations and considerations emerged at the Conference and were transmitted to the FAO Committee on Agriculture Outcomes are also available online (http://www.fertilizer:org/ifa/news/2OO3_9.asp).

* Partnerships are vital to end hunger.

The eradication of poverty and hunger must be seen as a joint effort. The challenge for the international community is to develop new public/private partnerships, in which farmers can voice their own needs for applied research and product development, as well as evaluation. In Africa, Governments should create air enabling environment for farmers and for the private sector to invest in market development.

* Human nutrition needs to be improved.

In order to eliminate malnutrition, as well as hunger, Governments should focus on nutrient output as a key goal, develop agricultural policies to foster the production of crops rich in a wide variety of nutrients and examine the effect trade policies have on the availability of foods.

* Soil degradation threatens food security.

Proper management of nutrients and land resources is essential for promoting sustainable soil fertility practices, while investments in rural infrastructure help farmers to gain access to necessary plant nutrients. Soil mining and expansion into fragile ecosystems continue to degrade soils and reduce agricultural productivity in many developing countries, especially in Africa.

* Sustainable fertilization needs to be further developed

Improving access to fertilizers, as well as natural resources and markets, is imperative for enabling farmers in many developing countries to achieve food security, especially for women in Africa Greater investment is needed in research attuned to the economic reality of farmers and their education. The challenge is to help them improve management practices involving all sources of nutrients, soil conservation and innovative biotechnologies.

The UN Chronicle, in a special feature coordinated by Horst Rutsch, presents a number of articles on the role of fertilization in global food security, including misconceptions about the utility of plant nutrients, the role of agricultural policies in developing countries, mapping farming systems as a tool for food security, and the impact of farm subsidies.