The Africa Food Systems Forum 2026 (AFS Forum) in Kigali reinforced an increasingly important message for Africa’s food systems transformation: soil health is not only an agronomic issue. It is also an investment, resilience and economic development issue.
The Global Phosphorus Institute participated in the Forum as a speaker and strategic partner, contributing to the Sustainable Production Thematic Plenary on “Surviving Economy Shocks: Investing in Soil Health,” while engaging with institutions and partners working across Africa’s agriculture and food systems.
Several important takeaways emerged from these discussions.
1. Africa needs to invest not only in more nutrients, but in better nutrient decisions
Across many African farming systems, nutrient deficiencies continue to constrain agricultural productivity. Increasing fertilizer availability remains essential, but increasing volumes alone will not be enough.
The challenge is to better understand which nutrients are limiting productivity, where these limitations occur, for which crops and under what conditions. That evidence also needs to be considered alongside information on prices, infrastructure, markets and farmer economics.
When these different layers of information come together, soil and nutrient data can become a form of investment intelligence. They can help governments, development institutions and the private sector identify where investments are most likely to generate meaningful productive and economic returns.
2. Nutrient access and nutrient-use efficiency must advance together
Improving access to nutrients remains critical, particularly in areas where soils are depleted. At the same time, farmers need to obtain greater value from every unit of nutrient applied.
This requires investment in better soil diagnostics, locally appropriate fertilizer recommendations, integrated soil fertility management, stronger agronomic practices, advisory services and more effective delivery systems.
The focus, therefore, should not only be on how much fertilizer is used, but on how effectively those nutrients contribute to productivity, soil health and farmer returns.
3. Resilient fertilizer systems require stronger African and regional value chains
Recent economic and supply disruptions have highlighted thevulnerability of fertilizer systems to concentrated supply sources, logistics disruptions and global market shocks.
Greater resilience will require investment in viable regional production and processing, stronger intra-African trade, improved transport and storage infrastructure, fertilizer products that respond to local needs, and more diversified sources of supply.
Circular nutrient sources also have an important role to play. Manure, organic waste and recoverable phosphorus streams can complement primary nutrient supply while helping reduce nutrient losses across the food system.
Together, these approaches can contribute to a more resilient and diversified nutrient system for Africa.4. Soil-health investment needs to become more bankable
One of the strongest messages emerging from Kigali was the need to connect science more directly with finance.
GPI highlighted the potential of evidence-led blended finance, where public and concessional resources can help reduce risk and support investments with a credible pathway towards commercial sustainability.
For soil-health investments to reach scale, however, financing cannot be considered separately from implementation. Projects need to take into account market demand, infrastructure, regulation, farmer economics, private-sector participation and measurable returns from the outset.
Strong scientific evidence remains essential, but it must increasingly be translated into investment propositions that can move from concept to implementation.
5. Africa needs stronger coordination across existing soil-health and nutrient initiatives
Discussions with International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) , ISRIC – World Soil Information / Wageningen University & Research, the African Development Bank Group , CIAT and CABI reinforced the potential role of the African Phosphorus Platform for Food Security (APPFS).
APPFS can serve as an Africa-wide platform for coordination, knowledge translation and scaling, connecting soil and phosphorus evidence with existing programs, decision-support tools, capacity development, investment institutions and policy processes.
Its role is not to duplicate structures or initiatives that already exist. Rather, it can help strengthen connections between them, support the wider use of existing knowledge and successful approaches, and make these resources more accessible across the continent.
6. Partnerships are central to translating GPI knowledge into action
The Forum also demonstrated how complementary partnerships can help turn knowledge into practical action.
GPI brings phosphorus-specific science, analysis and networks. Our partners contribute complementary strengths, including implementation pathways, soil-data systems, academic expertise, capacity development, financing and mechanisms for scaling.
Bringing these capabilities together creates a stronger pathway from scientific evidence to practical decisions: where to invest, what to prioritize and how to generate greater impact for African farmers and food systems.
The way forward
For GPI and APPFS, the priority after Kigali is to translate these discussions into concrete collaboration—strengthening soil and phosphorus intelligence, connecting evidence with investment and decision-making, and working with partners to support approaches that can be adapted and scaled across Africa.
One message from AFSF 2026 stands out clearly: Africa’s soil-health agenda must move from data to decisions, from fertilizer volumes to nutrient value, and from fragmented interventions to coordinated systems capable of attracting investment and delivering impact at scale.
GPI will continue working with partners across science, policy, development and finance to translate evidence into action and support that transition.