Preserving the fertility of agricultural soils, an imperative for food security in Africa

In Senegal, this issue goes beyond agriculture alone: soil fertility determines food security, resilience in the face of climate change and economic development.

Today, more than two-thirds of Senegalese arable land shows signs of degradation (erosion, salinization, depletion of organic matter, imbalances between nutrient inputs and exports).

Until now, public policy approaches have focused primarily on fertilization, through subsidies for mineral fertilizers and, more recently, organic fertilizers. However, the physical and biological components of soil fertility often remain under-considered in public policy, even though they are essential for the sustainability of agricultural systems.

How can we go beyond an approach limited to inputs alone in order to respond to the multiple dimensions of soil fertility?

On the occasion of the African Food Systems Forum 2025, the FARM Foundation publishes, in partnership with theFrench Development Agency (AFD) and in the “Public Policy Dialogue” collection, a policy brief entitled:

“How to fertilize differently for good soil health? The example of Senegal”

This document formulates several strategic directions to sustainably preserve soil health, illustrated by the Senegalese example:

• Complementarity between mineral and organic fertilizers.
• Adoption of agroecological practices to restore the physical and biological dimensions of fertility.
• Setting up a regulatory framework strengthened to ensure the quality of subsidized organic inputs.
• Valorization of crop residues, whether through their direct return to the soil or through their transformation into organic amendments from livestock farming, in a context of strong competition for their economic and energy use.
• Reinforcement training, agricultural advice and access to soil analyses.

To remember:

Sustainably restore soil fertility requires going beyond an approach limited to mineral fertilizers alone. Soil health relies on an integrated strategy that combines nutritional contributions, agroecological practices And technical support adapted to the realities on the ground.

The FARM Foundation thanks the French Development Agency for this partnership and in particular Benoît Faivre-Dupaigre for the editorial coordination of the publication.

To go further:

• The Minute FARM #1 | Livestock, crops and soil fertility in the Senegal River Valley: https://fondation-farm.org/actualite/la-minute-farm-1/
• The Minute FARM #2 | From producers in the Senegal River Delta: https://fondation-farm.org/actualite/la-minute-farm-2/
• Fertilizers and soil fertility in West Africa: understand everything: https://fondation-farm.org/engrais-et-fertilite-des-sols-en-afrique-de-louest-tout-comprendre/