APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY


Indigenous Bone Fertilizer for Growth and Food Security: A Local Solution to a Global


Challenge Food Policy, 114, January 2023 LINK TO PAPER


GARRICK BLALOCK ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Charles H. Dyson School


of Applied Economics and Management Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Cornell University


Co-authors • Garrick Blalock


Associate Professor, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied


Economics and Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University


• Milkyas Ahmed, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University • Bourcard Nesin, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University


• Andrew M. Simons, Fordham University Summary


With the exception of nitrogen (N), no plant nutrient is as critical to agricultur- al production as phosphorus (P). Unlike N, which can be pulled from the air, commercial P fertilizers are derived almost exclusively from mined rock phos- phate, which is finite and non-renewable. With global demand for P expected to almost double by 2050, the future availability of rock phosphate is threat- ened; these shortages challenge food security around the world, particularly in Africa, where the poorest farmers face the highest fertilizer prices and highest rates of food insecurity. Because rural Ethiopia has the largest collective live- stock herd in Africa and is challenged by high fertilizer prices and food security concerns, it is an ideal setting to evaluate the feasibility of a circular economy approach to converting bone wastes into P fertilizers.


Te authors examine the process of recycling the phosphorus that naturally occurs in animal bones, compare the cost of recycled phosphorus to that of conventional phosphorus fertilizer, and measure farmers’ willingness to pay for recycled phosphorus. Tey reach three conclusions: first, they demonstrate that it is possible to make a suitable pelletized P fertilizer from animal bones. Second, they estimate that the recycled P fertilizer costs 16% to 39% less than importing conventional fertilizer. Tird, they find that farmers’ willingness to pay for recycled phosphorus fertilizer is the same as that for conventional fer- tilizer.


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RESEARCH WITH IMPACT: CORNELL SC JOHNSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS • 2023 EDITION


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