The Inaugural High-Level Plant Nutrition Forum Calls for a New Agenda for Plant Nutrition

As the world rushes towards a population of 10 billion people by 2050 while simultaneously facing the perils of climate change, global agricultural systems must evolve to ensure our sustainable future.

On November 18th and 19th, the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) convened leading experts from diverse sectors including the research and farming community, international organizations and NGOs focusing on agriculture and environment, agribusinesses, policymakers, and the fertilizer industry to identify solutions to facilitate more global sustainable plant nutrition.

While there has been a growing focus on the urgent challenges facing agriculture and their potential solutions, this was the first event to explore the significant and complex role of plant nutrition in these broader challenges and potential solutions.

Held in Versailles, France, the first ever High-Level Forum on Sustainable Plant Nutrition was chaired by 2018 World Food Prize Laureate and 4SD Director, Dr. David Nabarro and opened by His Excellency Hailemariam Dessalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia and current AGRA Chairperson.

Dr. Nabarro, who led the dialogue among the many distinguished participants from international agricultural research, development and UN organisations, farm organisations, NGOs and fertilizer industry representatives, acknowledged the vital role of plant nutrition in feeding the world but saw challenges ahead for achieving the SDGs.

Stressing the importance of immediate action, he called for plant nutrition to be right at the heart of repairing food systems by providing solutions to mitigate climate change and improve health and called for step change in the entire food and agricultural value chain.

HE Dessalegn highlighted fertilizer application levels being still far below recommended levels in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside a lack of knowledge about how to use them properly, and called for policies in the region to address the production and price risk presented by climate vulnerabilities, as well as indirect market smart subsidies to make the entire value chain more efficient.

Elsewhere, during seven inspiring sessions, some of the most influential food and agriculture thinkers explored developments in technology, research and policy that could support the vital role of plant nutrition in addressing the challenges and opportunities of fast-changing agricultural systems.

Farmer and World Farmers’ Organisation President, Theo de Jager, saw agriculture, under growing pressure from climate change, on the cusp of a huge change due to digitalization enabled by cheap sensors and widespread mobile phone penetration, and called for a closer partnership between farmer and plant nutrition providers to feed nearly 3 billion more people in the next 25 years.

2016 World Food Prize laureate Howarth Bouis referred to the urgent need to scale up agronomic biofortification (through the application of micronutrient fertilizers) in order to address micronutrient deficiencies in humans, calling on both industry and governments to do more to fight “hidden hunger.”

With a need to explore policies and incentives to promote the site and crop specific nutrient management, Hans Dreyer Head of the FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division, saw fertilizers making a significant contribution to global food security, farmers’ livelihoods and human nutrition and sought to strengthen the FAO’s cooperation and activities with the fertilizer industry with a view towards promoting ever more sustainable plant nutrition..

Also calling for closer cooperation with the fertilizer sector, Jacqueline Alvarez, Head of the Knowledge and Risk Unit, Chemicals and Health Branch, Economy Division at UNEP, recognized the importance of 4R Nutrient Stewardship for handling nutrient inputs and highlighted the rapid growth in fertilizer use in Asia and digitalization using soil analysis sensors and data driven applications as current plant nutrition trends.

Dr. Marco Ferroni, Chairman of the System Management Board of the CGIAR, stressed the key role of fertilizers for any strategy on food and nutrition security and called for investment in R&D across the full spectrum of the agricultural chain to support innovation. He also referred to the CGIAR reform process and plans to place a greater emphasis on agronomy, inviting a closer collaboration with the fertilizer industry.

Stressing the need for world food systems to go through a transition, David Cleary, Global Agriculture Director of the Nature Conservancy, saw the biggest pressure on food systems coming from the changing diets in growing urban populations in developing countries.

Holger Kray, Practice Manager, Agriculture & Food Security at the World Bank saw an opportunity for bundled products and services to provide plant nutrition that better targets local needs as well as complementary investments in soil.

IFA’s incoming Chief Scientist Dr. Achim Dobermann raised the need for new partnerships and technology to collect more precise and higher quality data and the importance of decoupling future growth in agricultural production from growth in fertilizer consumption in some regions of the world.

“Good nutrition is vital for realizing all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals. We need to ensure that agricultural systems yield the kind of food that is needed for good health and can thrive in the face of a changing climate. It was enlightening to explore the many ways sustainable plant nutrition can help achieve this”, said Dr. Nabarro, “and at the same time explore how to advance greater resource use efficiencies in order to significantly decrease the environmental footprint of fertilizers.”

With all stakeholders agreeing that the urgent responsibility to improve plant nutrition requires collaborative efforts from industry, the research and NGO sectors and governments, key recommendations emerging from the forum included:

While fertilizers have played a hugely important role in productivity gains, food security and enhancing farmers’ livelihoods, a new paradigm is needed which better incorporates healthier diets and looks at the role of plant nutrition in addressing key challenges facing agricultural systems such as forest preservation, increasing carbon sequestration and reducing the overall environmental footprint of farming.

Focus needs to placed not just on fertilizers but rather on plant nutrition solutions, including various products, services and innovations that can more precisely match farmers’ needs and enhance nutrient use efficiency. This requires increased investment in R&D and partnerships to pursue innovative approaches to promote sustainable fertilizer use.

Governments and international publicly funded research organizations should also devote greater resources to enhance scientific knowledge and innovative knowledge transfer tools in the realm of agronomy, including soil health and fertility. To most effectively promote more sustainable fertilizer use, extension to farmers must be pursued at scale, facilitated by digital technologies which allow for the development of fertilizer recommendations encompassing large areas.

The fertilizer industry can have a significant positive impact on health through the use of micronutrient fertilizers to address human micronutrient deficiencies, but governments must help more by providing proper incentives and further work is needed to understand how to scale this up.

Regions of historic fertilizer under use and soil nutrient mining require special attention. It is of paramount importance to ensure sustainable plant nutrition as fertilizer use ramps up in sub-Saharan Africa. This requires concerted efforts from the industry, policymakers and other players.

“This meeting was above all a chance to focus on a positive future vision of farming. Sustainable plant nutrition offers a huge opportunity to offer nutritious diets to a growing global population, make farming a sustainable and productive livelihood for all the world’s farmers and protect the environment”, said Mr. Mostafa Terrab, IFA Chairman and Chairman and Chief Executive of OCP.

Given the unique challenges and opportunities facing the African continent, it was announced that the next High-Level Forum will take place in Kigali, Rwanda next year where it will focus on the particular opportunities and challenges for plant nutrition in Africa.