Africa’s food-security challenge is increasingly becoming a test of strategic leadership. Global energy and commodity disruptions have exposed the vulnerability created by dependence on imported agricultural inputs, while high fertiliser costs continue to constrain farmers’ ability to raise productivity.
The response must therefore go beyond emergency intervention. Africa needs to use periods of disruption to accelerate local production, strengthen regional supply chains and attract investment into an agricultural-input industry capable of supporting the continent’s long-term food ambitions.
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The scale of the challenge is considerable. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa spends about $75 billion annually importing food, despite possessing approximately 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. At the same time, fertiliser use across much of the continent remains well below global levels, contributing to low agricultural productivity.
The AfDB’s African Emergency Food Production Facility, launched in 2022, demonstrated what coordinated African financial intervention can achieve. The $1.5 billion facility was designed to support 20 million African farmers with improved seeds, fertiliser and agricultural services, to produce an additional 38 million tonnes of food. The programme represented an important shift from responding to food shortages after they occur towards investing directly in production capacity.
But emergency financing cannot be the destination.
Africa’s longer-term opportunity lies in building a competitive agricultural-input industry. Fertiliser is particularly strategic because its availability affects yields, farmer incomes and food prices across the value chain. Countries with domestic production capacity are better positioned to withstand international price shocks and supply disruptions.
Nigeria provides an important example.
The country has emerged as a major fertiliser producer following significant private-sector investment, including the Indorama Eleme Fertiliser and Chemicals complex and the Dangote fertiliser plant. Nigeria’s growing production capacity has helped shift the country from heavy dependence on imported fertiliser towards greater domestic supply and export potential.
This industrial development illustrates a broader principle: agricultural resilience begins long before crops reach the farm. It requires investment in fertiliser plants, improved seeds, storage, irrigation, logistics, energy and financial services.
The regional dimension is equally important.
Under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), countries have an opportunity to develop regional agricultural-input markets rather than maintaining fragmented national supply chains. Fertiliser produced in one African market should be able to reach farmers in neighbouring countries efficiently, while regional production hubs can take advantage of economies of scale.
The opportunity is particularly relevant as Africa seeks to reduce its exposure to external shocks. The World Bank has repeatedly highlighted the importance of improving food-system resilience, strengthening trade and investing in agricultural productivity as part of the continent’s development agenda.
African financial institutions have an important role in making this transition possible. The AfDB, Afreximbank and national development banks can provide long-term capital, guarantees and trade-finance facilities that encourage private investors to build fertiliser, agro-processing and logistics capacity.
Governments, meanwhile, should focus on creating the conditions for investment rather than permanently subsidising consumption. Predictable policies, reliable electricity, efficient ports, functioning rail networks and transparent agricultural markets can significantly reduce the cost of producing and distributing inputs.
There is also a critical opportunity to make financing more inclusive. Smallholder farmers who produce a substantial share of Africa’s food need affordable credit, extension services, climate information and digital tools alongside access to inputs. Without this last-mile investment, increased fertiliser production will not automatically translate into higher food production.
The strategic objective should therefore be clear: move from fertiliser security to agricultural industrialisation.
Africa has the natural resources, agricultural workforce and expanding consumer market to build a globally competitive food system. What is required is coordinated leadership capable of connecting finance, infrastructure, technology and trade.
For African leaders and investors, the question is no longer simply how to respond when fertiliser prices rise or food imports become expensive. It is how to build the industrial capacity that makes such shocks less damaging in the first place.
The next phase of Africa’s food-security strategy should prioritise local production, regional trade and private investment. If today’s crises are used to build tomorrow’s capacity, fertiliser can become more than an agricultural input; it can become a foundation for Africa’s broader journey towards food sovereignty, industrialisation and economic resilience.
