African leaders and various stakeholders have committed to operationalizing the Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism in full in a bid to improve the production, procurement, and distribution of organic and inorganic fertilisers and soil health interventions.

This is part of the endorsements following deliberations at the ongoing Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit.

The Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism has been adopted against the realisation that the continent needs to mobilise financial and technical resources to successfully execute various commitments and in close cooperation with the existing climate funds. 

Through this mechanism, specific attention would be paid towards de-risking farmer investments in yield-enhancing technologies and the soil health of current and targeted food security crops.

The boosting of financial resources for fertilisers ought to be complemented equally by soil health policy reforms.

The summit therefore proposed the creation of a multi-source soil health fund for research, innovation, capacity building, and start-ups on fertiliser use and soil health actions. 

Other proposals include the capacitating of the African Centre for Fertiliser Development that was set up in Harare by the African Union. 

The Soil Health Fund, if considered, would be part of the already existing Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism, which is hosted by the African Development Bank.