Under the beating Tanzanian sun, Lossim Lazzaro
nervously looks over his farm.
He slowly pours livestock manure on
his crops, in a last-ditch attempt to help them grow.
Mr Lazzaro owns five acres of land and
was once a successful tomato farmer in the northern Arusha region. But now,
like many others, he is battling to keep his business and crops alive, amid a
global fertiliser shortage.
“It’s been difficult for me to get
fertiliser in the market,” Mr Lazzaro says.
Fertiliser – the key ingredient needed
to help crops grow – is in short supply across the world. Global prices have also sky-rocketed in part
because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“I used to buy fertiliser for about
US$25 (£20) per 50 kg bag in 2019,” Mr Lazzaro recalls.
“But the same bag now goes for almost
double that price. It is extremely expensive for me.”
The amount of fertiliser available
globally has almost halved, while the cost of some types of fertilizer have
nearly tripled over the past 12 months, according to the United Nations.
That is having a knock-on effect in
countries like Tanzania, where farmers are dependent on imported fertiliser.
“I ended up buying fertiliser from a local manufacturer but still I have to place an order months earlier due to the shortage,” Mr Lazzaro adds.
The crisis is fuelling fears of food
scarcity.
Africa – which already uses the least amount
of fertiliser per hectare in the world – is at high risk.
The short supply will inevitably impact crop yields, particularly for wheat which requires a
lot of fertiliser and is essential for feeding millions.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that
the fertiliser shortage could push an additional seven million people into food
scarcity.
They say that cereal production in 2022 will
decline to about 38 million tonnes, from the previous year’s output of over 45
million tonnes.
Tanzania, like many other African countries,
relies on fertiliser from Russia and China – the two leading global
manufacturers.
Russia, which is under Western sanctions,
produces large amounts of potash, ammonia and urea.
These are the three key ingredients needed to
make chemical fertiliser. They helped to fuel the Green Revolution in the 1960s
which tripled global grain production and helped to feed millions.
Russia exports around 20% of the world’s
nitrogen fertilisers and combined with its sanctioned ally Belarus, 40% of the
world’s exported potassium, according to data from Rabobank.
The cost of fertiliser was already high
following the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the sanctions on
Russia and Belarus, compounded with export controls in China, have made a bad
situation worse.
The crisis has left many African countries,
which are heavily dependent on foreign imports, scrambling to find solutions.
Wheat
prices have also soared, pushing up the cost of everything from bread to
noodles
Demand
for locally produced fertiliser is rising. Small-scale farmers in the north of
Tanzania are now turning to places like Minjingu Mines and Fertilizer Ltd, one
of the biggest fertiliser manufacturers in the country.
The
company says it is experiencing a sudden increase in demand and is struggling
to fill orders. But bosses say they are unable to increase their capacity due
to heavy taxation.
“We
don’t have a level playing ground compared to the importers,” said Tosky Hans,
a director of Minjingu Mines and Fertilizer.
“Local
manufacturers have to pay a lot of taxes, whereas the importers don’t,” he
added.
Like
many other countries, foreign investors are given subsidies in Tanzania to attract
investment while local manufacturers pay set taxes.
Alliance
for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), a non-government organisation that
promotes green solutions across the continent, says this is an opportunity for
farmers to become more self-sufficient.
Vianey
Rweyendela, country manager of Agra Tanzania, encourages farmers to unionise
and form cooperatives. A move he says that could give them a voice on market
prices.
“That
will help them have bargaining power and fertiliser sold to them will be affordable,”
argues Mr Rweyendela.
The
richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, recently commissioned a fertiliser plant
in Nigeria, which is expected to produce three million tonnes of urea
fertiliser annually.
He
believes, guaranteed supplies will make the difference.
“Ordering
fertiliser and having it arrive has been a big challenge for farmers in Africa
and they end up missing their planting season,” said Mr Dangote.
“With
the launch of this plant, we shall ensure farmers get the nutrients early.
Source:BBC