Is phosphorus the key to guaranteeing food security in Africa? A group of scientists believe it that way

These ideas were discussed today within the framework of the “Science Week” organized by the Mohamed VI (UM6P) Polytechnic University in Benguerr, close to Marrakech.

Ken Giller, emeritus professor of plant production systems at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, stressed that strengthening food security in Africa in the future constitutes “one of the great challenges” in the present.

At the same time, he regretted that there were no progress in this area in recent years in a continent where the famine “is increasing” and where 20 % of the population suffers malnutrition.

Giller – whose investigations focus on the agricultural systems of the small farmers of sub -Saharan Africa- He called to promote the fertility and productivity of small agricultural farms through the reinforcement of nutrient production such as nitrogen and phosphorustwo resources necessary for the nutrition of plants.

He pointed out that the use of these elements in small farms, which are dedicated to cultivating tropical legumes- in several sub-Saharan countries- such as Malawi- improved productivity.

In the same sense, Jacob Jones, Professor of Science and Engineering at the State University of North Carolina in the US, He insisted on the “urgent” need to combine world efforts to reinforce phosphorus production.

For his part, Hicham El Habti, president of the UM6P University, Habi pointed out that this element could become “a key factor for food security worldwide.”

“Imagine the possibilities we would offer if we fused vital resources with the efficiency promoted by artificial intelligence,” he said.