Food Security Is National Security: Can Fertiliser Help Africa Move Towards UN SDG 2?
When we talk about national security, we often think about borders, energy, defence and economic stability.
But there is another form of security that is fundamental to every country: food security.
A country needs reliable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to maintain the health and stability of its population. When food becomes scarce, unaffordable or unreliable, the consequences can extend far beyond agriculture. They can affect household incomes, public finances, social stability and economic development.
For me, this is why food security is increasingly a national-security issue.
And this is also why I have become increasingly interested in agricultural fertilisers as a commodity.
Africa’s Food Security Challenge
The scale of the challenge is significant.
According to the latest FAO estimates, around 309 million people in Africa experienced hunger in 2025, representing about 20% of the continent's population. More than half of Africa's population — around 56.6% — experienced moderate or severe food insecurity (FAO, 2026).
Africa also remains off track to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 — Zero Hunger. SDG 2 is not simply about eliminating hunger. It also includes improving nutrition, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture (FAO, 2026; United Nations, n.d.).
So the question becomes:
How can we help African countries build stronger and more resilient food systems?
There is no single answer.
Food security depends on many things — productive land, water, seeds, farming knowledge, infrastructure, financing, storage, transportation, markets, climate resilience and access to agricultural inputs.
But one of those inputs deserves particular attention: fertiliser.
Why Fertiliser Matters
Fertiliser is not food. It does not solve food insecurity by itself.
But it can be an important part of the agricultural system that produces food.
Plants require nutrients to grow, and nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients required for crop development. This is why nitrogen fertilisers such as Urea 46N play an important role in modern agriculture.
The relationship is relatively simple:
Fertiliser → Crop Nutrition → Agricultural Production → Food Supply
But in reality, the system is much more complicated.
Farmers need to be able to obtain the right fertiliser, at the right time, at a price they can afford, and apply it appropriately alongside water, seeds, soil management and good agricultural practices.
This is why simply supplying fertiliser is not enough.
Africa Needs Access, Not Just Supply
One of the things I have learned from working with Urea is that having a product available somewhere in the world does not automatically mean that a farmer can access it.
There can be challenges involving price, transportation, infrastructure, financing, import procedures, distribution and last-mile delivery.
FAO has highlighted fertiliser access as an important challenge for stable food production in Africa, while also making clear that fertiliser is only one part of achieving sustainable and viable agricultural production (FAO, 2026).
This distinction is important.
The question should not simply be: “Can we supply fertiliser to Africa?”
The better question is: “Can we build a reliable and affordable fertiliser supply system that actually reaches the farmers who need it?”
That requires collaboration between governments, producers, traders, financial institutions, logistics providers, distributors, agricultural organisations and farmers.
Fertiliser and UN SDG 2
This is where I see a direct connection between agricultural commodities and UN SDG 2 — Zero Hunger.
SDG 2 calls for an end to hunger, improved nutrition, food security and sustainable agriculture. One of its targets also calls for improving the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers through access to productive resources and inputs.
Fertiliser can therefore be part of the solution — but it must sit within a much broader agricultural strategy.
For example, improving fertiliser access should be accompanied by better farming knowledge, soil management, water and irrigation systems, financing, storage, transport and access to markets.
There is also an important sustainability question.
Increasing fertiliser use is not simply about applying more. It is about using the right nutrients, in the right amounts, at the right time and in the right place.
The objective should be productive, resilient agriculture, not simply higher fertiliser volumes.
Why This Matters to Me
This is where my work in commodity trading connects with something much bigger.
When I first started working with Urea 46N, I saw it primarily as a commodity transaction — a product, a specification, a buyer, a seller, a price and a shipment.
Over time, I began to see the bigger picture after discussing it with Alice Stambuli in person.
A 25,000-tonne shipment of Urea is not simply 25,000 tonnes of white granules moving from one port to another.
It represents an agricultural input that can eventually become part of a much larger food system.
This is particularly meaningful when working with buyers from African markets.
I have seen firsthand how a commodity transaction can connect people across countries and continents. Behind the commercial discussion are real questions about supply, financing, affordability, logistics and ultimately what the product is intended to support.
That changed how I look at agricultural fertilisers.
The commodity is important. But the purpose behind the commodity is even more important.
What Can We Do?
I don’t believe there is one solution to Africa’s food-security challenge.
But I do believe there are practical areas where international business can contribute.
One is reliable access to agricultural fertilisers. For this, I have confidence in our China Strategic Sourcing, Hary speaks directly with the owner of the fertiliser factories in China.
Another is improving supply-chain efficiency and reducing unnecessary layers between producers and agricultural markets.
Another is connecting genuine suppliers with genuine buyers and developing transaction structures that are commercially workable.
And beyond trade, there is an opportunity to support investment in local agricultural infrastructure, storage, distribution, processing and resilient farming systems.
This requires thinking beyond the individual shipment. It requires asking what happens after the cargo arrives.
Does it reach the farmers?
Can farmers afford it?
Is it used effectively?
Does it contribute to stronger agricultural productivity?
Can the system become more resilient over time?
These are the questions that matter if we want commodity trading to contribute to something larger than the transaction itself.
Food Security Is a Shared Responsibility
Africa’s food-security challenge cannot be solved by one company, one commodity or one country.
It requires African leadership, local knowledge, investment and long-term policy, together with responsible international partnerships.
For companies like JCG, our role is more focused.
We can help connect genuine supply with genuine demand.
We can help facilitate access to agricultural fertilisers.
We can build relationships across markets.
And we can look for opportunities where trade, investment and strategic partnerships can contribute to stronger supply chains.
That may seem like a small contribution compared with the scale of the challenge. But every food system begins somewhere.
Sometimes it begins with a farmer.
Sometimes with a seed.
Sometimes with water.
And sometimes, it begins with a small white granule of Urea.
A Commodity With a Bigger Purpose
For me, this is why agricultural fertilisers belong in JCG’s Strategic Commodity Portfolio.
I don’t see Urea 46N simply as a product to buy and sell.
I see it as part of the connection between resources, agriculture, trade and food security.
If we want to move closer to UN SDG 2, we need to think beyond emergency food supply and look at the systems that enable countries to produce more of their own food sustainably and resiliently.
Fertiliser is not the whole answer.
But reliable access to the right agricultural inputs can be one part of the answer.
And perhaps that is the bigger lesson I have learned from working with commodities: Behind every commodity is a human purpose.
A shipment of fertiliser is not just cargo.
It can be an input into a harvest.
A harvest can become food.
And food security can become part of a country’s resilience, stability and future.
Food security is not only about feeding people today. It is about building the capacity to feed them tomorrow.
References
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) (2026). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026. Rome: FAO. Available at: FAO — The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (Accessed: 18 September 2026).
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) (2026). SDG 2: Zero Hunger. Rome: FAO. Available at: FAO — SDG 2: Zero Hunger (Accessed: 18 September 2026).
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) (2026). Crop Prospects and Food Situation. Rome: FAO. Available at: FAO — Crop Prospects and Food Situation (Accessed: 18 September 2026).
United Nations (n.d.). Goal 2: Zero Hunger. New York: United Nations. Available at: United Nations — Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Accessed: 18 September 2026).
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