by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Global agricultural systems are “are extremely dependent on mineral phosphorus fertilisers<\/strong>.” That is, from compounds produced “from rock phosphate, a non-renewable resource that is patchily distributed across the Earth.” This imbalance therefore highlights “the importance of accelerating the agroecological transition in the Global North,” by allocating the remaining resources to the Global South and particularly to African nations characterized by less fertile soils. This is supported by a study<\/a> by INRAE<\/strong>, the Institut national de la recherche agronomique, a French government agency, and Bordeaux Sciences Agro<\/strong>, a training school at the local university.<\/p>\n The authors, in particular, developed a model to simulate trends<\/strong> in available phosphorus in soils around the world from the middle of the last century to the present. The calculations are based on processing data on stocks of the element, crop yields, mineral fertilizer use, livestock numbers and international trade.<\/p>\n