At the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya this week, the Assistant United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator, Dina Esposito, stressed the United States commitment to continue supporting African agriculture.
During the Summit, she opened an event with African Union Commissioner Josefa Sacko and other donors to present and endorse a joint development partner statement signed by 14 partners in support of the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan and post-Summit implementation.
She also delivered remarks on the importance of evidence-based policies to create more resilient fertilizer markets, and highlighted USAID’s investments in Africa. She highlighted the USAID support for the Action Plan and $40 million to expand the Space to Place approach, which uses geospatial data and farmer knowledge to help farmers obtain the right kind of fertilizer in the right place, at the right time, and in the right amounts to get more nutritious foods.
While in Nairobi, Assistant Administrator Esposito met with the Presidents of Malawi and Zambia and government officials from Rwanda to discuss food security programs under Feed the Future – the U.S. government’s global hunger initiative.
She also expressed support for continued action to strengthen food systems and spur economic growth, and underscore the critical role of the private sector and policies that can help drive future investments.
She also met with a range of global development partners and donors including Norway, AGRA, ANAPRI, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to discuss coordination of commitments to support the post-Summit implementation process.
The African Union (AU)-led soil health and fertilizer action plan is a 10-year plan to address constraints to agricultural productivity and growth. It lays out a vision for reversing soil degradation, accelerating inclusive agricultural transformation, and ending hunger.
The comprehensive plan advances four mutually reinforcing outcomes that will improve soil health and strengthen food security across the continent:
1) Improved policies, finance and markets;
2) Enhanced access and local production of organic and inorganic fertilizers;
3) More efficient and targeted use of these inputs; and,
4) Strengthening the institutional and human capacity required for long term success.
It is stated that USAID is supporting financial solutions to increase the amount of fertilizer available to farmers and mitigate the risk faced by local private enterprises in the fertilizer supply chain in Africa through the use of credit guarantees.
In partnership with U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, African Development Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, USAID has guaranteed $360 million in fertilizer sales in Africa for local private sector actors.
The partnership is expected to increase and sustain the amount of quality fertilizers that reach African smallholder farmers by developing a trusted trading relationship between international fertilizer suppliers and local ‘hub’ agro dealers, through a combination of technical assistance and the provision of trade credit guarantees.