Rising price of fertiliser hits world’s poor
Fertiliser prices have risen sharply over the past 18 months, with one type – diammonium phosphate – going from £142 per tonne in January last year to £696 per tonne in August this year. A UN report predicts that, with global fertiliser production near full capacity, prices will remain high for at least three years – the time it will take to open the 50 new nitrogen plants under construction around the world.
High oil prices and US farmers’ rush to plant biofuel crops have contributed to the price increase, while China – the world’s biggest consumer of fertiliser – has placed a 150 per cent tariff on nitrogenous fertiliser exports to discourage producers from selling it overseas. In addition, farmers in the developed world have used large volumes of fertiliser in order to maximise grain harvests and benefit from record grain prices, further exacerbating the problem.
The price hike has left farmers in developing countries without the ability to grow crops for their own consumption or to capitalise on rising global food prices. It has led to riots and demonstrations in Vietnam, Nepal, Kenya and Egypt. One man died in a stampede in the Indian city of Hyderabad when the government handed out fertiliser.
Dr Jan Poulisse, a senior analyst at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, told the Guardian: ‘High commodity prices allow commercial farmers in developed countries to cope with high fertiliser prices. But rising food prices hurt subsistence farmers, particularly in Africa. People just cannot afford [fertiliser].’
November 2008
High oil prices and US farmers’ rush to plant biofuel crops have contributed to the price increase, while China – the world’s biggest consumer of fertiliser – has placed a 150 per cent tariff on nitrogenous fertiliser exports to discourage producers from selling it overseas. In addition, farmers in the developed world have used large volumes of fertiliser in order to maximise grain harvests and benefit from record grain prices, further exacerbating the problem.
The price hike has left farmers in developing countries without the ability to grow crops for their own consumption or to capitalise on rising global food prices. It has led to riots and demonstrations in Vietnam, Nepal, Kenya and Egypt. One man died in a stampede in the Indian city of Hyderabad when the government handed out fertiliser.
Dr Jan Poulisse, a senior analyst at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, told the Guardian: ‘High commodity prices allow commercial farmers in developed countries to cope with high fertiliser prices. But rising food prices hurt subsistence farmers, particularly in Africa. People just cannot afford [fertiliser].’
November 2008
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