Fertilizer and soil health for sustained crop production in sub-Saharan Africa: Theory and conceptual framework
Soil health is the capacity to support the production of food, feed, and fiber while delivering other essential ecosystem services. We suggest key soil health indicators and examine the three-way interactions between mineral fertilizer, crop productivity, and soil health. Given the long history of soil nutrient depletion in Sub-Saharan Africa, we conclude that mineral fertilizer use, as a core component of integrated soil fertility management, must increase and be co-applied with organic inputs to increase productivity and fertilizer use efficiency and restore and sustain soil health.
Authors
- Shamie Zingore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-7913)
- Achim Dobermann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5728-5594)
- Bernard Vanlauwe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6016-6027)
- Antoine Couëdel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5786-0939)
- K.E. Giller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5998-4652)
- Roel Merckx (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6440-5363)
- Rebbie Harawa
- Tilahun Amede (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7777-634X)
- Gatien Falconnier
- Zachary Stewart
- Prem Bindraban
- Rémi Cardinael
- Martin van Ittersum
- Johan Six
- Marc Corbeels
- Mercy Kamau
- Oluwole A. Fatunbi
Institutions
- Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (FR)
- University of Zimbabwe (ZW)
- Egerton University (KE)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (CH)
- Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (KE)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (KE)
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KE)
- Africa Rice Center (CI)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- KU Leuven (BE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Sustainable Agriculture
- Published
- 2026-06-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-026-00161-w
- Primary Topic
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00