Africa’s decline in soil fertility is a growing crisis, with crop yields plummeting year after year. This issue is particularly dire for smallholder farmers who rely on small plots of land, averaging only half a hectare, for their livelihoods. Among the myriad factors contributing to this soil degradation, acidification stands out as a major culprit. The over-reliance on chemical fertilizers such as DAP, CAN, and urea to supply nitrogen has exacerbated soil acidification, creating a vicious cycle of diminishing returns.
Enter Legume Technology, a British ag biotech company founded in 2000, which aims to reverse this trend by leveraging microbial biofertilizers. These biofertilizers, known as biological nitrogen-fixers (BNFs), utilize natural microbes like bacteria and fungi to capture atmospheric nitrogen and make it available to crops. This method is particularly effective for legume crops such as peas, soybeans, and pulses.
“Biologicals are the future of agricultural productivity,” asserts Bruce Knight, co-founder and managing director of Legume Technology. Knight, a trained microbiologist with a focus on beneficial soil bacteria, has been committed to providing cost-effective alternatives to expensive synthetic fertilizers since 2007. His resolve was further solidified after attending a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation event in Arusha, Tanzania, where he noted the near absence of BNF usage among African farmers.
Despite the promise of BNFs, their adoption in Africa has been fraught with challenges. Packaging remains a significant barrier; Legume Technology’s current packets treat approximately 100 kilograms of seed, far too much for the average smallholder farmer who typically needs only about 30 kilograms. While local companies like MEA Ltd in Kenya and the IITA Business Incubation Platform in Nigeria have made strides in offering smaller sachets, affordability and quality remain critical issues.
“Currently we compete with products made in Africa, but we face the challenge of packaging despite our products being cheaper and having more than 5,000 times more bacteria,” explains Knight. High-quality crop inputs in low-volume packaging are crucial for realizing the full potential of biofertilizers in African agriculture.
The limitations are not confined to packaging and affordability. Most BNFs on the market are tailored for legume crops, whereas African smallholder farmers cultivate a diverse range of crops, including non-legumes like maize, millet, sorghum, and cassava. Nevertheless, the efficacy of Legume Technology’s products has been demonstrated. In Tanzania, soybean yields have surged by 48%, and in Senegal, peanut production has increased by 28%.
In a significant breakthrough, Legume Technology recently secured a £2.15 million ($2.83 million) grant from the Gates Foundation and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). This funding will address the twin challenges of packaging and crop diversification. The company plans to design and install a new packaging line in the UK to produce small, affordable packs that maintain high quality and freshness. These packs, between 50 and 100 grams, will be more suitable for smallholder farmers.
Beyond improving packaging, the grant will support a new three-year research program to identify microbes that can benefit non-legume staple crops. Collaborating with research institutes, innovation centers, and universities, Legume Technology aims to collect and assess 50 BNF bacterial strains with known nitrogen-fixation effects. The top-performing strains will undergo rigorous testing and independent review by the James Hutton Institute. The goal is to have trial samples ready by mid-next year and commercial products for at least three African countries by the end of the program.
“The project includes in-country commercialization trials to validate the product, demonstrate its reliability, and show the gross benefits of yield and quality,” Knight states. While Legume Technology does not anticipate subsidies or cash incentives from African governments, it hopes for streamlined testing and registration processes, which are currently so cumbersome that they deter ag biotech companies from entering the African market.
With this new grant, Legume Technology is poised to make significant strides in rescuing Africa’s deteriorating soils and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the continent.