Knowledge is a critical input in modern agriculture. Farmers make numerous decisions during a cropping season on crop management, navigating the weather, input and output markets, and so on. When such decisions are grounded on evidence-based knowledge the likelihood of success improves, productivity and profitability of farming increases, management decisions foster sustainable outcomes, and croplands stay healthy to feed future generations.
Since the inception of the African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), and as our on-farm research began to generate new information, we have mulled over the question…how do we package information into worthwhile actionable knowledge and deliver it to practitioners? This brand new publication “Growing Africa” has evolved out of a consensus that access to useful and pragmatic knowledge on crop management, and particularly on plant nutrition management, is limited in Africa. Therefore, bridging this knowledge gap would be a crucial contribution that APNI can make to African agricultural development.
The concept of Growing Africa has received overwhelming encouragement from our partners and collaborators, our Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Board of Directors. We expect this publication to be a critical supporting cog in achieving APNI’s mission of enhanced plant nutrition for a resilient and food-secure Africa.
So here we are with the first issue of Growing Africa, enriched by articles from experts who have spent years understanding crop nutrition in the diverse and complex contexts of African agriculture. The articles that follow span a range of issues that are connected by a common thread – adoption of improved plant nutrition practices that are co-developed with farmers creates economic, social and environmental benefits.
We hope you enjoy reading the first issue. Do send us your comments to help us improve, and we look forward to your support in nurturing this publication into a powerful medium of knowledge dissemination.
Best wishes,
Dr. Kaushik Majumdar
Director General
