Phosphorus Supply Is Increasingly Disrupted – We Are Sleepwalking into a Global Food Crisis
Policies have generally focused on removing phosphorus from wastewater to prevent water pollution or encouraging farmers to fertilize fields with phosphorus-rich animal manure or to use less phosphorus in the first place. These are fine, but they are piecemeal and ignore important inefficiencies at other stages in the food supply chain, for example in producing fertilizer, or in food processing or arising from our dietary choices.
For more than a decade, scientists have been warning that if no one takes responsibility for ensuring phosphorus security, further disruptions in its supply can have major consequences for the food system. Vulnerable farmers could be pushed to the brink and global crop yields severely reduced. We are essentially sleepwalking into a food crisis.
The First Comprehensive National Strategy
But there is still time to wake up. We have put together the first ever UK National Phosphorus Transformation Strategy to help guide the country away from its current unsustainable situation. If the UK government and institutions were to adopt this strategy, we hope it could trigger a broader transformation elsewhere.
Surprisingly, despite being almost entirely dependent on imported phosphorus in fertilizers and animal feed, our team’s research shows the UK theoretically has enough phosphorus already circulating in the food system: 90,000 tons per year of “legacy phosphorus” accumulate in agricultural soils, 26,000 tons per year leak into water bodies and 22,000 tons are sent to landfill and construction. These hotspots of phosphorus inefficiency and loss represent a critical resource, which could instead be used productively.
The strategy identifies six phosphorus priority pathways that can turn that around, ranging from the development of innovative technologies to financial incentives for industry and engaging communities in the changes needed.
This includes things like supporting the roll-out of “biodigesters” to process bulky animal manures and food wastes into concentrated and nutrient-rich fertilizers that can be more cost-effectively transported across the country to crop production areas. Or harmonizing national policies to incentivize both phosphorus removal to prevent pollution, and stimulate the productive reuse of phosphorus-rich wastes for farmers.
The good news is that some of these actions are already underway at a small scale. If they are scaled up and others are introduced and become part of mainstream operations, then the UK’s phosphorus system can become more resilient. For that to happen, we need the commitment of all sectors involved and we need to address the issues in an integrated and collaborative way.
Importantly, the strategy has been developed after extensive consultation with farmers, regulators, policy-makers, food producers, wastewater companies and environmental managers. This should give us the confidence that change is possible.
Julia Martin-Ortega is Professor, Sustainability Research Institute. Associate Director water@leeds, University of Leeds. This article is published courtesy of The Conversation.
