Phosphorus for Sustainable Development Goal target of doubling smallholder productivity

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for life. In many tropical countries, P-fixing soils and very low historical P input limit uptake of P in crops and thus yields. This presents a serious obstacle for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 2.3 of doubling productivity in smallholder farms. We calculated the geographic distribution of P limitation (1 – actual/potential P uptake) and the P input required to achieve this SDG target by 2030 in comparison to the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2) scenario for five world regions where smallholder farms dominate. To achieve target 2.3, these regions require 39% more P application (126 Tg) between 2015 and 2030. While P limitation is most widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, it is the only region on track to achieving the doubling of productivity in the SSP2 scenario (increase by a factor of 1.8). Achieving the target requires a strong increase in P input, while protecting soils and waterways from excessive P runoff. Phosphorous is limited in many tropical soils. This study finds that, despite such limitation, sub-Saharan Africa is on track to nearly doubling productivity on smallholder farms while some regions will require almost 40% more phosphorous applied between 2015 and 2030.