Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of the Republic of Uganda and Chair of the AU Specialized

Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment,

Hon. Mithika Linturi, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), Republic of Kenya.

Hon. Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Republic of Kenya.

Ministers of Agriculture of AU Member States,

Other Ministers Present,

Private Sector Institutions,

Delegates from AU Member States,

Heads of Development Partner Institutions,

The Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen

All Protocols Duly Observed

Let me begin by commiserating with the Government and people of Kenya for the torrential rains and flash floods across the country that have left an estimated 210 people dead, destroyed homes and key infrastructure leaving more than a thousand people displaced. My condolences to the families that lost their loved ones.

On behalf of the African Union Commission, I welcome your Excellences to Day 1 of the 2024 African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit targeted at our Agriculture Ministers and Experts.

I would like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Republic of Kenya for accepting to host this Summit and also recognize and appreciate the keen interest and significant importance President William Ruto has given to the Summit.

The African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit is the continent’s largest fertilizer and soil health forum this year, to be held under the leadership of H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, H. E. Mohamed Ould Cheikh AI- Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Current President of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union and H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC),

The summit brings together over 4000 stakeholders to evaluate the state of Africa’s fertilizer use and soil health, in three days of dialogue and deal making from 7 to 9 May 2024 beginning with the Agriculture Ministers and Expert Session today and that of Foreign Ministers tomorrow. These will culminate in a high-level Presidential Summit on Day 3.

Our expectations from the event are the following four priority items:

• A Nairobi Declaration;
• A 10-year Fertilizer Action Plan;
• A Soil Initiative for Africa document; and
• A Mechanism to finance the Action Plan.

Proudly, Kenya becomes the second African Union member state to host this prestigious gathering since 2006 when we passed the Abuja Declaration.

This year’s summit is set to evaluate the state of Africa’s soil health, while reviewing the progress made since the 2006 Abuja Declaration, which aimed to boost fertilizer use for agricultural growth.

Despite multiple efforts, Africa falls short of the Abuja Declaration targets. Fertilizer consumption in Africa has only risen from 8kg/ha to below 25 kg/ha since 2006, far below the 50kg/ha target.

Statistics from the World Bank World Development Indicators for 2024 indicates the following:

The data is presented for 53 Countries in Africa

Fertilizer consumption (kilograms per hectare of arable land ranges from 0.03 in Sudan and 1.04 KG in Somalia to 542.47 in Seychelles and 542.57 in Arab Republic of Egypt, the highest figure recorded by an African country.

10 countries met or surpassed the 2006 Abuja declaration. These are:

Unfortunately, 22 African countries recorded fertilizer consumption of less than 10 kilograms per hectares

Comparable statistics for other parts of the world that have attained food sufficiency are:

• China 8
• Germany 130.0
• Canada 126.1
• Indonesia 298.2
• Israel 4
• Malaysia 6
• Ireland 1

Despite producing around 30 million metric tons of mineral fertilizer annually, many African countries still heavily rely on imports, particularly nonphosphate-based fertilizers, leaving them vulnerable to market shocks.

We all remember what transpired with the ongoing Russia/ Ukraine crisis due to reliance of several Africa countries on grains and fertilizer from these two countries and the need to build food sovereignty in Africa by raising the productivity with a view to feeding 2.4 million people by 2050.

We are taking up these issues in our Post Malabo process which would unveil a 10-year plan for Africa’s Agriculture.

The slogan of the event; “Listen to the land” looks to explore the current condition of Africa’s soils with the mindset that multiple solutions – including fertilizers – exist and must be implemented rapidly to avert the worsening food and nutrition security in Africa.

Once again, I welcome all of you to this event and I thank you for your attention.

Asante Sana. Obrigado. Merci Beaucoup. Shukran.