Fertilizer use optimization in Sub-Saharan Africa
This book (PDF), published by CABI, provides a detailed explanation on optimizing fertilizer use within an Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) Framework in 13 African countries. The book shares the findings of the Optimizing Fertilizer Recommendations in Africa (OFRA) project. The first chapters describe the principles and approach of fertilizer use optimization, the spation analysis, and the use of ISFM in Sub-Saharan Africa. Next, the optimizing fertilizer use within ISFM is described for the countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. The last chapter elaborates on enabling fertilizer use optimization, and how to maximize potential profits of fertilizer use while taking the farmer’s context into account and keeping risks low. At the farm level enabling fertilizer use optimization is in early stages for most countries but considerable experience has been gained from Uganda, as well as Kenya and Tanzania. As with any extension effort, early creation of farmer awareness of the potential benefits of fertilizer use optimization is very important in order to make adoption demand driven. Engagement with diverse stakeholders is needed to gain the necessary resources and avoid obstacles in enabling fertilizer use optimization. During the project 67 fertilizer optimization tools were developed for specific agro-ecological zones of 13 countries.