What's New

The 10 th WTO Ministerial Conference , held in Nairobi, Kenya from December 15-19, concluded with six ministerial decisions of significance for developing countries, particularly LDCs. Four decisions revolve around agricultural trade and require clear commitments for both developed and developing countries; an additional two decisions focus solely on benefits for LDCs. Despite what some are calling a “historic” trade package, however, the future of the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda remains uncertain.

Regional Updates from FEWS.net

Africa’s fertilizer markets face significant constraints on both the supply and the demand side, including a lack of infrastructure, high costs to both produce and use, and low public-private investment. However, the challenges of climate change and population growth are now encouraging many governments to tackle much-needed market reforms.

These were some of the takeaway messages from last week’s virtual dialogue on fertilizer use in Africa, held on December 10.

The dialogue addressed four questions:

This blog was originally posted on IFPRI.org . Written by Shahidur Rashid of the Markets, Trade and Institutions Division and Paul Dorosh of the Development Strategy and Governance Division .

In 2006, the African Union Special Summit of the Heads of State and Government, adopted the 12-Resolution “ Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer for the African Green Revolution” , which aimed to increase Africa’s fertilizer use from the then-average 8kg per hectare to 50kg per hectare by 2015.  According to the International Fertilizer Industry Association, however, average fertilizer use in the region today is still only 12kg of fertilizer per hectare, compared to 150kg per hectare average in Asia.