Contribution of Biological Nitrogen Fixation Towards the African Food and Environmental Challenges

Abstract

The Sixth International Conference of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation was held under the theme ‘Agronomic, socio-economic and environmental benefits of biological nitrogen fixing systems in Africa’. This book reports on the deliberations of that conference which examined the activities of microorganisms that supply ‘free’ nitrogen fertiliser through a process of biological fixation. Given the rising costs of nitrogen fertilisers, any that comes ‘free’ is worthy of serious attention. Zimbabwe uses almost 25 per cent of its electricity to manufacture the same nitrogen fertilizer that microbes can supply ‘free’ through a process of biological fixation. The importance of harnessing biological nitrogen fixation to sustain agriculture in Africa cannot be over-emphasised. The publication of this book is timely given that hunger and malnutrition are ravaging some parts of our continent, a situation accentuated by lack of affordable agricultural inputs, especially for smallholder farmers.