Cereal Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Sub Saharan Africa

Daniel E. Edmonds, Silvano L. Abreu, Adelheid West, Donna R. Caasi, Travis O. Conley, Michael C. Daft, Birehane Desta, Brandon B.

England, Chelsea D. Farris, Tia J. Nobles, Nehaben K. Patel, Elliott W. Rounds, Brennan H. Sanders, Samar S. Shawaqfeh, Lakmini,

Lokuralalage, Roji Manandhar, Yumiko Kanke, Jake Vossenkemper, Jerry May, Olga Walsh, Emily Ruto, Guilherme Torres, and W.R.

Raun.

Responsibility

“With great power comes great responsibility”Uncle Ben to Spider Man

“The Price of Greatness is Responsibility” Winston Churchill

"In a democratic world, as in a democratic Nation, power must be linked with responsibility... ." Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Luke 12:48)

“Although the United States consistently ranks first or second in absolute amounts of foreign aid, it falls last among industrial countries when aid is measured as a percentage of GNP.”

http://www.usaid.gov/fani/ch06/objectives03.htm

Country Total Country Area (ha) Total Land Area (ha)Agricultural Land Area (ha) Arable Land Area (ha)

Cereal production (Mg)

Total Area Harvested in Cereal Production (ha)

1 Angola 124670000 124670000 57590000 3300000 717460 14779602 Benin 11262000 11062000 3567000 2750000 934096 8301873 Botswana 58173000 56673000 25980000 377000 25936 759534 Burkina Faso 27400000 27360000 10900000 4840000 3858225 34247005 Burundi 2783000 2568000 2326000 971000 277514 2087006 Cameroon 47544000 46540000 9160000 5960000 1507400 10703007 Cape Verde 403000 403000 74000 46000 11811 332978 Central African Republic (CAR) 62300000 62300000 5220000 1930000 174000 1620009 Chad 128400000 125920000 49230000 4200000 1913311 2552662

10 Comoros 186100 186100 148000 80000 21000 1570011 Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 32246000 31800000 20300000 3500000 1399000 78750012 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 234486000 226705000 22800000 6700000 1525220 194192413 Equatorial Guinea 2805000 2805000 324000 130000 NA NA14 Eritrea 11760000 10100000 7607000 637000 151698 37402415 Ethiopia 110430000 100000000 33922000 13115000 13394328 842682316 Gabon 26767000 25767000 5160000 325000 30571 1985417 Gambia 1130000 1000000 814000 350000 256421 20973118 Ghana 23854000 22754000 14735000 4185000 1919020 143803019 Guinea 24586000 24572000 12570000 1200000 2445151 170302320 Guinea Bissau 3612000 2812000 1630000 300000 225259 13860021 Kenya 58037000 56914000 27021000 5264000 3955033 236147422 Lesotho 3035000 3035000 2334000 330000 120277 18404623 Liberia 11137000 9632000 2602000 382000 66000 12000024 Madagascar 58704000 58154000 40843000 2950000 3789684 150912125 Malawi 11848000 9408000 4590000 2600000 1710200 154520026 Mali 124019000 122019000 39479000 4800000 3428154 321145327 Mauritania 103070000 103070000 39762000 500000 174913 22357028 Mauritius 204000 203000 113000 100000 452 5829 Mozambique 79938000 78638000 48630000 4400000 1831103 202935530 Namibia 82429000 82329000 3882000 815000 128711 29687231 Niger 126700000 126670000 38500000 14482000 4076957 673620032 Nigeria 92377000 91077000 74000000 32000000 28070000 1917200033 Republic of Congo 34200000 34150000 10545000 495000 9400 1190034 Rwanda 2634000 2467000 1940000 1200000 365674 32714035 Sao Tome & Principe 96000 96000 57000 9000 2700 110036 Senegal 19672000 19253000 8248000 2550000 988315 112432237 Seychelles 46000 46000 6000 1000 NA NA38 Sierra Leone 7174000 7162000 2880000 600000 1153674 77677239 Somalia 63766000 62734000 44376000 1350000 401565 68145540 South Africa 121909000 121447000 99640000 14753000 9453254 300776041 Sudan 250581000 237600000 136837000 19434000 6717000 935420042 Swaziland 1736000 1720000 1392000 178000 26947 4928443 Tanzania 94730000 88580000 34350000 9200000 5221412 344963144 Togo 5679000 5439000 3630000 2490000 888984 78316345 Uganda 24104000 19710000 12712000 5400000 2557000 167900046 Zambia 75261000 74339000 25739000 5260000 1072186 58362547 Zimbabwe 39076000 38685000 15610000 3220000 1181756 1656224

Totals 2426959100 2360574100 1003775000 189659000 108178772 85765893Totals without South Africa 2305050100 2239127100 904135000 174906000 98725518 82758133

CountryMaize Production (Mg)

Maize Harvested Area (ha)

Maize Yield Average (kg/ha)

Sorghum Production (Mg)

Sorghum Harvested Area (ha)

Sorghum Yield Average (kg/ha)

Rice Production (Mg)

Rice Harvested Area (ha)

Angola 566000 1110000 509.91 NA NA NA 9000 13000Benin 671949 593423 1132.33 156333 166875 936.83 70972 26901Botswana 7379 42927 171.9 15894 29752 534.22 NA NABurkina Faso 905713 566000 1600.2 1553830 1425000 1090.41 189176 106000Burundi 123000 116000 1060.35 67947 55000 1235.4 68311 19500Cameroon 850000 450000 1888.89 550000 530000 1037.74 52000 40000Cape Verde 11811 33297 354.72 NA NA NA NA NACentral African Republic (CAR) 90000 90000 1000 43000 41000 1048.78 30000 16000Chad 183946 172453 1066.64 693579 928889 746.68 106572 80839Comoros 4000 1700 2352.94 NA NA NA 17000 14000Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 600000 265000 2264.15 30000 55000 545.46 700000 370000Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 1155490 1450000 796.89 6170 9470 651.53 315830 417900Equatorial Guinea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NAEritrea NA NA 148.75 NA NA 512.15 NA NAEthiopia 4029630 1792714 2247.78 2313041 1440108 1606.16 16000 8500Gabon 29570 19347 1528.4 NA NA NA 1001 507Gambia 45076 31023 1452.99 26658 23179 1150.09 31024 18347Ghana 1189000 793000 1499.37 315000 320000 984.38 250000 125000Guinea 546765 349653 1563.74 36980 45610 810.79 1340313 758434Guinea Bissau 41827 16000 2614.19 24527 25000 981.08 106000 65000Kenya 3247200 1888185 1719.75 131188 163865 800.59 64840 18000Lesotho 102000 143000 713.29 NA NA 533.16 NA NALiberia NA NA NA NA NA NA 66000 120000Madagascar 293464 252838 1160.68 935 2000 467.5 3485000 1250000Malawi 1600000 1400000 1142.86 41000 63000 650.79 50000 42500Mali 587845 390480 1505.44 730040 902682 808.75 1018775 400596Mauritania 17285 34745 497.48 83800 NA 511.24 70462 15725Mauritius 452 58 7793.1 NA NA NA 0 0Mozambique 1300000 1260000 1031.75 307000 488000 629.1 174000 180000Namibia 60853 28904 2105.35 6000 20000 300 NA NANiger 1000 1100 909.09 800000 1500000 533.33 65661 23000Nigeria 6404000 3905000 1639.95 9866000 7308000 1350.03 3924000 2725000Republic of Congo 8000 10000 800 NA NA NA 1400 1900Rwanda 91813 114836 799.51 187380 170298 1100.31 62932 14034Sao Tome & Principe 2700 1100 2454.55 NA NA NA NASenegal 181585 130461 1391.87 121003 159063 760.72 190493 85037Seychelles NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NASierra Leone 48813 9693 5035.9 14141 9079 1557.55 1062320 730000Somalia NA NA 979.72 NA 427000 339.58 NA NASouth Africa 6935056 2032446 3412.17 96000 37150 2584.12 3158 1386Sudan 60000 80000 750 5203000 6759000 769.79 20000 9200Swaziland 26170 48000 545.21 636 1113 571.43 12 3Tanzania 3373000 2000000 1686.5 750000 750000 1000 784000 355000Togo 543342 470384 1155.1 224623 215456 1042.55 76284 30723Uganda 1258000 819000 1536.02 440000 308000 1428.57 154000 113000Zambia 865000 470000 1840.43 19000 23000 826.09 13337 10368Zimbabwe 900000 1350000 666.67 75000 140000 535.71 565 254

Totals 38958734 24732767 68526.53 24929705 24541589 32972.61 14590438 8205654Totals without South Africa 32023678 22700321 65114.36 24833705 24504439 30388.49 14587280 8204268

Computing NUE

NUE = (Grain N uptake Fertilized – Grain N uptake non-fertilized)/N Rate applied

NUE Definitions

NUE, World Values

SSA 47 SSA 46 SSA 47 SSA 46 SSA 47 SSA 46 SSA 47 SSA 46

SSA Fertilizer N Consumption (Mg) (Mg) (Mg) (Mg) (Mg) (Mg) (Mg) (Mg)

TOTAL 939449 600906 1150553 629172 986811 574342 938301 544759

Cereals (60 %) 563669 360544 690332 377503 592087 344605 562981 326855

SSA Cereal Production

Maize 37182828 27106828 38436174 28731174 38996782 29286712 43273041 31557093

Sorghum 19129883 18871883 22533453 22273453 20319981 19946981 23828396 23568396

Millet 13762138 13750138 15586991 15574991 13982438 13970921 16353036 16341796

Rice 11253954 11250754 11987907 11984707 12249340 12246172 13950170 13947012

Wheat 4923590 2485845 4464549 2917709 5149229 3462229 5560270 3655270

Oat 98771 40554 77159 44159 100232 63232 96249 62249

Rye 700 0 230 0 620 0 1400 0

Barley 1490903 1310903 1401124 1161124 1644196 1459196 1711591 1486591

TOTAL 87842767 74816905 94487587 82687317 92442818 80435443 104774153 90618407

SSA Cereal Grain N Removal

Maize (12.6 g/kg) 468504 341546 484296 362013 491359 369013 545240 397619

Sorghum (19.2 g/kg) 367294 362340 432642 427650 390144 382982 457505 452513

Millet (20.1 g/kg) 276619 276378 313299 313057 281047 280816 328696 328470

Rice (12.3 g/kg) 138424 138384 147451 147412 150667 150628 171587 171548

Wheat (21.3 g/kg) 104872 52948 95095 62147 109679 73745 118434 77857

Oat (19.3 g/kg) 1906 783 1489 852 1934 1220 1858 1201

Rye (22.1 g/kg) 15 0 5 0 14 0 31 0

Barley (20.2 g/kg) 30116 26480 28303 23455 33213 29476 34574 30029

TOTAL 1387750 1198860 1502580 1336586 1458056 1287880 1657925 1459239

N removed in Cereals from soil

50% 693875 599430 751290 668293 729028 643940 828963 729619

SSA Estimated NUE 123 166 109 177 123 187 147 223

2005Nitrogen Use Efficiency 2002 2003 2004

Sub-Saharan Africa vs. USASAA USA

Population, million 700 300Cereals, million ha 88 56Production, million tons 97 364Yield, tons/ha 1.1 6.5Fertilizer N, million tons 1.3 10.9Avg. N rate, kg/ha 4 52% of world N consumed 1.4 13% of world population 10 4

Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Malakoff (Science, 1998)› $750,000,000, excess N flowing down the

Mississippi River Africa expenditure on fertilizer N, cereals

› $706,000,000 Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) World 33%

› Developed, 42%› Developing, 29%

20% increase› Worth $25.8 billion US annually

US Expenditures, Int. Aid

27 Million Golfers in the USA24.3 Billion dollars spent on golf in 2004 ($888/person/year)

82 Million Hunters USA (fishing, etc.)108 Billion spent on hunting in 2001 ($1317/person/year)

Americans and Europeans together spend $17 billion a year on pet food, $4 billion more than the estimated yearly additional amount needed to provide everyone in the world with basic health and nutrition.

Summary

Eereal production in SSA is inadequate for supporting the nutritional demands of a rapidly growing population.

Nutrient mining, particularly nitrogen (N), has taken place in virtually all areas where cereals are produced in SSA.

Estimated NUE’s for SSA exceed 100%. This suggests that SSA is doing a remarkable

job in managing fertilizer N The reality is that so little fertilizer N is used

that estimates of NUE are grossly exaggerated.

Summary

Reporting on these high NUE’s is important, but in light of N application rates they speak to a much bigger and potentially damaging situation for cereal production in SSA.

Limited supplies of N, the continual rise in prices and elevated economic risk of N fertilization, combined with the existing low yield levels of cereal production systems reiterates the importance of NUE in SSA and the importance of aiding this region in overcoming the challenges its agriculture production systems must take on.

The high NUE’s for SSA are a direct result of applying so little fertilizer N, at the ultimate expense of mining an already depleted soil resource.

Fertilizer Prices, 1990-2008

Corn Price, 1990-2007

Wheat Price, 1990-2007