摘要：There is growing concern aboutlow farm incomes and stagnant or decliningagricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa.Poor soil quality, due in large part to low levels offertilizer use, is considered by many to be oneprincipal reason for these problems.In much of Sub-Saharan Africa, demand forfertilizer was developed based on "cash-crop"systems, usually based on non-cereal export crops— cotton, tea, coffee, fruits, vegetables, andtobacco. In these systems, there is credit forfertilizer and profitable and stable outlets for theproduct for both small- and large-scale farmers.Non-cereal crops, however, occupy only a smallshare of land compared to cereals in most Africancountries, and are thus not motors for broadincreases in fertilizer use to raise smallholderproductivity and food security. Moreover, the GreenRevolution in Asia was due in large part tointensification of cereal rather than export crops. Todate, however, only a few countries (Nigeria, Kenya,Zimbabwe, Zambia, and more recently Ethiopia)have developed national programs to promotefertilizer use on smallholders' cereal fields.
