image: This workshop gathered specialists from South and North America, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Who brought expertise in water management, environmental data and modelling, crop nutrition including nitrogen and carbon, and farmer-centric agronomy.
Credit: APNI Image
The review and writing sessions, held from July 22-25, 2024, gathered specialists from South and North America, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Participants brought expertise in the disciplines of water management, environmental data and modelling, crop nutrition including nitrogen and carbon, and farmer-centric agronomy.
“The strategic task for this group was to focus its attention on whether our understanding of landscape relationships between terrain, water, carbon, and changing farming objectives provides opportunities for 4R crop nutrition to increase productivity and resilience of such landscapes,” explained Dr. Thomas Oberthür, APNI Director of Business and Partnerships.
The expert group reviewed topical knowledge related to the connections, or nexus, for carbon, water, nitrogen, plus farmer priorities in agricultural landscapes. The team also discussed scientific concepts that could underpin sustainable, multipurpose, and farmer-centric landscape management.
Africa’s population, presently at 1.2 billion but projected to be 2.54 billion by 2050, is a one of the driving points around these discussions due to the increased pressure on our land resources to produce more food. Recently, various governments have made commitments to increase investment in fertilizers during the Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSH) held under the aegis of the African Union during May 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. This new commitment implies a widely recognized need to increase nitrogen input into the continent’s agro ecosystems.
During the workshop discussions were centered around the need to explore the questions of sustainability under this new scenario of increased nitrogen use, and how this shift can fundamentally affect water availability and use, carbon losses, uptake and sequestration, and ultimately soil health and productivity. 4R Nutrient Stewardship is a framework for sustainable crop nutrition that is globally recognized as a basis for the identification and implementation of responsible and effective management of nutrient resources. APNI leads the development and adoption of 4R principles and practices in Africa through its Continental research and outreach programs.
“It’s about purposely emphasizing the nexus of nitrogen, water and carbon. People have thought about those three factors separately for a long time, but our discussion has been around the entire nexus because we know they interact, and this interaction varies greatly depending on where farmers are within the landscape,” explained Dr. James Mutegi, APNI Senior Scientist.
Invited members of the workshop included: Dr. Aracely Castro, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Prof. Richard Harper, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; Prof. Paul Gessler, University of Idaho, Moscow, USA; Prof. Simon Cook, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; Dr. Mangi Lal Jat, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheruvu, India; Dr. Matthew McCartney, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka; Dr. Xin Zhang, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA; Dr. Erik Veneklaas, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Prof. Mark Mulligan, King’s College London, Strand, UK.
"The long-term goals for this concept are that food systems in Africa will respond to our demands while preserving and reinvesting in natural and soil capital. We aim for a balanced development pathway, understanding the effects of plant nutrition on carbon balance at both landscape and continental scales, contributing significantly to sustainability within Africa and globally," said Prof. Simon Cook, Murdoch University, and Strategic Advisor for APNI.
This international advisory group will continue to explore how food production, soil health and water management can be tied together within a single concept of agricultural development. A key outcome expected from the group’s interactions will be a peer-reviewed synthesis that can clarify our understanding of how farming communities can thrive within the landscapes in which they perceive and adapt to change through their management of not only soil nutrients, but also water and carbon.
"The African Plant Nutrition Institute was established to support the growth of agri-food systems in Africa. The key to addressing challenges lies in plant nutrition. If we improve it, it's a solution; if we follow old methods, it could be problematic. That's why APNI must lead this concept and find new ways to manage plant nutrition in African food systems," explained Prof. Cook.
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About APNI
The African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), established during 2019, is a not-for-profit research and development organization headquartered in Benguérir, Morocco. APNI’s mission is enhanced plant nutrition for a resilient and food-secure Africa. APNI develops fundamental and applied knowledge, know-how, and methodologies. By working closely with strategic partners across Africa, APNI ensures that these advances are adapted to specific local conditions and crops, and then adopted by farmers. A shared goal for APNI’s initiatives is capacity building for farming families to secure them against internal and external market shocks, generate better incomes, and improve food security and nutrition. Plant nutrition research remains central to private and public sector investments in support of African farmers. APNI field offices are in Settat, Morocco; Nairobi, Kenya; and Yamoussoukro, Côted’Ivoire. More on www.apni.net