Demand for fertilizer in developing countries has expanded at a rapid rate over the past forty years. The relative scarcity of agricultural land has been a major underlying cause of this expansion in demand. More proximate causes include the development of complementary Green Revolution...

In every region of the world, the intensification of crop-based agriculture has been associated with a sharp increase in the use of chemical fertilizer. Given the generally low levels of fertilizer use in Africa, there can be little doubt that fertilizer use must increase in Africa if the region...