Food crisis: Mineral fertilizers 'here to stay,' says IFDC

The global shortage of mineral fertilizer — a key contributor to the food crisis — has led many to wonder whether it might be possible to scale-up organic options instead. But organics will not be able to do the job alone, Douglas Kerr, the vice president at the International Fertilizer Development Center, said in an interview at Devex World last month. The price of mineral, or synthetic, fertilizers was spiking even before the war in Ukraine and is worsening now. Russia is a major producer, and the war has also affected the price of coal and gas, which are needed for the production of fertilizer. Africa is the worst-affected continent, Kerr said, with only about 54% of the continent’s fertilizer needs met. “That is an appallingly low number,” he said. It also masks wide variations. While some countries, particularly in North Africa, are fertilizer secure, “countries like Malawi only have about 11% of their fertilizer needs met,” he said. Some organizations in Malawi and elsewhere are working to promote organic alternatives, which they say are cheaper and more environmentally friendly. But Kerr said that “the idea of completely getting away from mineral fertilizers is a nonstarter” because of the impractically large quantities of organic matter that are needed to replace it — around four metric tons of manure would be needed to replace a 50 kilogram bag of mineral fertilizer, he said. That would create transportation challenges, among other issues. Mineral fertilizers “are here to stay,” he said. Worsening the situation is that some countries are beginning to hoard fertilizer. As a result, some African countries are exploring the feasibility of establishing their own fertilizer manufacturing capabilities to reduce their reliance on outside sources — Kerr cited Ethiopia, Angola, and Togo as examples. Watch the full interview below.