Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Richard Duke and high-level partners from the United States, European Commission, Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands announced a total of $135 million in new funding for fertilizer efficiency and soil health programs to combat fertilizer shortages and food insecurity. This announcement exceeds President Biden's Global Fertilizer Challenge goal, set at the June 17 Major Economies Forum, to raise $100 million dollars by COP27 to help low- and middle-income countries address the global fertilizer shortages caused, in part, by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Deputy Special Envoy Duke was joined at the launch event by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, European Union Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, Norwegian Minister Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, German State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth, Dutch Ambassador Marcel Beukeboom, African Union Commissioner Josefa Sacko, Colombia Vice Minister Villegas, and International Fertilizer Association CEO Alzbeta Klein. The $109 million in new public funding – including $25 million from the United States – will be used to expand fertilizer and soil health programs in sub-Saharan Africa and in key middle-income countries outside the continent. These coordinated investments are an important step for greater donor alignment and integration with the African Union-led Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan set to be endorsed at the June 2023 African Union Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit.
In addition to the $109 million in public funds, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is leveraging $4.5 million from the private sector to match a U.S. government grant to support the Efficient Fertilizer Consortium (https://foundationfar.org/news/ffar-launches-efficient-fertilizer-consortium/ ) and a group of philanthropic funders and investors have committed $21.5 million in aligned funding (https://www.climateworks.org/press-release/commitment-in-philanthropic-and-investor-aligned-funding-to-support-global-action-on-fertilizer ) which will more broadly address fertilizer's role in the climate, food security, and energy crises.
