Policy frameworks for increasing soil fertility in Africa: debating the alternatives A Future Agricultures Consortium debate

Everyone is agreed that one of the central components of achieving an „African Green Revolution‟ is to tackle the widespread soil fertility constraints in African agriculture. To this end, AGRA – the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa – has launched a major new „Soil Health‟ programme aimed at 4.1 million farmers across Africa, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committing $198 million to the effort (www.agra-alliance.org/section/work/soils). The Abuja declaration, following on from the African Fertilizer Summit of 2006 set the scene for major investments in boosting fertilizer supplies (www.africafertilizersummit.org/Abuja Fertilizer Declaration in English.pdf). CAADP – the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme – has been active in supporting the follow up to the summit, particularly through its work on improving markets and trade (www.triomedia.co.za/work/nepad/newsletters/2008/issue212_15Feb2008.html#toc1 ). Other initiatives abound – the Millennium Villages programme (www.millenniumvillages.org/ ), Sasakawa-Global 2000 (www.saa-tokyo.org/english/sg2000/), the activities of the Association for Better Land Husbandry, among many others. All see soil fertility as central, although the suggested solutions and policy requirements are very different.