Nothing affects food prices like the cost of farm inputs.

And among them, mineral fertilisers seem the most significant.

Fertilisers supplement the soils with minerals that are taken up by crops during cultivation.

But among the many important crop minerals, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are of greatest significance.

Among the major nutrients, only phosphorus must be mined, therefore making it a determining factor to the success of farming ventures in depleted soils.

This is due to several reasons:

First, phosphorus is easily lost through soil erosion.

Secondly, since many soils are phosphorus deficient, success in farming requires boosting of its levels.

This therefore requires extraction of phosphorus from areas which have it in plenty to supplement those areas whose soils are deficient.

So enter the manufacturing industry for phosphorus based fertilisers.

Phosphorus based fertilisers are made from phosphorus rich rocks which are mined in nations such as Morroco.

These phosphorus deposits are finite in nature which means that they will dwindle over time as their exploitation continues.

But what makes the phosphorus debate more sensational is the kind of power such phosphorus-rich nations hold (together with those which do to mass processing of mineral fertilisers)…

If they choose not to export this commodity, masses will be condemned to hunger.

This is reflected by the crisis the Ukraine war is precipitating today.

But the phosphorus problem is not just a mining problem…

It’s also a pollution problem.

Industrial farming (large scale mechanised farming) has enabled easy acquisition of farm inputs such as fertilisers.

Such access to agrochemicals has allowed overuse of phosphorus based fertilisers in ways that are unimaginable.

Overapplication of such fertilisers leads to washing off of excess phosphorus into our rivers, lakes and other water bodies.

High phosphorus leads to build up of algae in water bodies which block sunlight.

These algae are broken down by bacteria which use up oxygen.

Such waters over time lose their aquatic life and are regarded as ‘dead zones’.

Excessive phosphorus from farmlands and grazing fields are responsible for environmental degradation of entire aquatic zones.

But what if we were to look at this environmental problem as a source of a solution to the production/mining problem?

What if we were to test ways of extracting phosphorus from polluted waters and use it to manufacture fertilisers instead of relying on limited deposits which shall be depleted over time?

The circular economy has an answer for such problems.

Instead of mining more phosphorus which creates dependence on fertilizer manufacturing nations, could we come up with ways to extract phosphorus from our backyard wastewater?

It might be farfetched but this is one sure way we could battle future hunger…by creating a circular economy around management of phosphorus. 

Perhaps if innovators and makers put their heads together, a farming household will not have to depend on foreign manufactured fertilizers for their farming.

Instead, they’ll make their own.