CS Linturi set to speak at Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi is among the high-profile speakers who will deliver summonses at the 2024 Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit.

The summit will be held in Nairobi from May 7-9, and Linturi, whose fate as CS now lies with a National Assembly committee after he was impeached by Members of Parliament, will be a key speaker.

The summit, organised by the African Union, will be held to deliberate on Africa’s recent widespread, decades-long decline in the soil quality of farmland.

The summit has been held for over a decade now since the Heads of State and Governments of the African Union endorsed the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer for the Africa Green Revolution in 2006.

This is a continental strategy to reverse the worrying trend of poor productivity in African soils. The declaration's key targets are agricultural growth, food security, and rural development in Africa, with a focus on the role of fertilizers. 

According to the AU, fifteen years after the Abuja Declaration, Africa’s agriculture and food security narrative have evolved significantly.

"The fertilizer market itself has changed, including the roles that private and public sector actors are playing. Another major change since Abuja is the increased recognition of the critical role of sustainable soil management.

"The decline in soil health has hindered the efficiency of fertilizer use and hampered agricultural productivity growth, food security, and environmental sustainability across the continent," a statement by the 2024 summit organizers said.

Nairobi Summit objectives

The objective of the Nairobi Summit is to bring together all relevant stakeholders to highlight the crucial role of fertilizer and soil health in stimulating sustainable pro-poor productivity growth in African agriculture and to agree on an African Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan, as well as the Soils Initiative for Africa.

The 2024 summit has laid down a number of objectives, which they expect to be endorsed.

"It is expected that a 10-year Action Plan, to be endorsed, which will deliver concrete recommendations for steps to be taken by African leaders and stakeholders over the next 10 years.

"The Action Plan will provide a focus for new policies and investments that will enable farmers to work toward re-building soil health and ultimately increase yield responses and profitability of fertilizers.

"It is also expected that the Action Plan will be endorsed by leading private and public sector partners across all African countries.

Heads of State across Africa, top government officials, senior policymakers, private-sector players and civil society organizations are expected to grace the event.