AU prepares for Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi in May

The African Union (AU) has announced that the three-day Summit on Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health will be held in Nairobi from 7 to May 9 2024.

According to an AU press release, the Summit is expected to bring together African Heads of State, high-ranking government officials, senior policymakers, private sector players, and civil society organisations.

Other participants will include farmer organisations and development agencies, NGOs, scholars and scientists, and representatives of leading donor organisations.

Names of the leading organisations include the African Development Bank, AfDB, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA, funded by Bill Gates), and the Federal Republic of Tanzania.

However, the structure of the Summit will start on May 7, 2024, with the meeting of Ministers in Charge of Agriculture with invited relevant experts in agriculture and health sectors.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting with the Ministers in charge of Agriculture and the Special Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union will be held on May 8th and 9th, 2024, respectively.

Meanwhile, the expected outcome of the Summit is that a 10-year Action Plan, to be endorsed, will deliver “concrete recommendations” for steps to be taken by African leaders and stakeholders over the next 10 years.

Essentially, the action plan is a playbook that provides a step-by-step approach to preparing new policies and investments that will enable farmers to work toward re-building soil health and ultimately increase fertiliser harvest and profitability.

It is also expected that the plan will be endorsed by leading private and public sector partners across all African countries, with the following:

1. Nairobi Declaration on Fertiliser and Soil Health
2. 10-year Action Plan
3. Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) framework
4. Mechanism to finance the Action Plan (post-summit implementation process).

This announcement comes three months after the Nigerian government approved the commercialisation of genetically engineered corn (GMOs) in January 2024.

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