High-yielding agriculture, made possible by fertilizers, gives the industrial nations the world s cheapest food, says Dr. Balu Bumb, IFDC Senior Economist. Ninety-five percent of the increase will be in developing countries. Africa s wildlife symbolizes, to many, our environment. Yet hunger forces farmers like Marbau and Kissem to farm the habitats of wild animals and plants. IFDC research shows that improving soil fertility of 1 hectare of land in Africa saves 5 to 6 hectares of endangered forest or hillside, says Dr. Deborah Hellums, IFDC Soil Fertility Scientist.
Some cynics say that Africa can never feed itself.
And look what happened. Hundreds of entrepreneurs now manufacture the fertilizer briquettes across Bangladesh. By 1991 this country, which everyone thought would be the symbol of poverty and starvation, was feeding itself. After 45 years of Marxism and isolation, famine seemed possible. IFDC helped develop a nationwide network of fertilizer distributors.