The critical importance of land and water
If the concern is solely to increase fertilizer use by Sub-Saharan Africa’s smallholders, price subsidy for inorganic fertilizer can be effective. The strengths and weaknesses of relying primarily on price subsidies to promote fertilizer use have been discussed at length and will therefore not be dealt with here. But if the goal is to assist smallholders use fertilizer productively, profitably and sustainably-financial and environmental, much more is required. Making fertilizer affordable is necessary but far from sufficient. Fertilizer is effective only when it is part of a package.