Trends in fertilizer use and production in sub-Saharan Africa, 1970–95: An overview

Abstract

This paper analyzes trends in fertilizer use, production, and imports in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1970–95 period. Fertilizer use increased at 6.3% and 5.5% per annum during the 1970s and the 1980s (1980–87), whereas fertilizer production increased at 9.5% and 1.8% per annum during the 1970s and 1980s, respectively. Relatively slower growth in fertilizer production compared with fertilizer use made sub-Saharan Africa increasingly dependent on fertilizer imports. Fertilizer imports accounted for more than 85% of fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s. Because of foreign exchange shortages and debt crises, a significant proportion of fertilizer imports was financed through fertilizer aid. Also, many countries experienced declining trends in per capita cereal production. As per hectare fertilizer use levels are very low, the increased and efficient fertilizer use can help in reversing these trends without having adverse environmental consequences and thereby can provide relatively greater food security to the people of sub-Saharan Africa.