{
  "abstract": "Soil health is the capacity to support the production of food, feed, and fiber while delivering other essential ecosystem services. We suggest key soil health indicators and examine the three-way interactions between mineral fertilizer, crop productivity, and soil health. Given the long history of soil nutrient depletion in Sub-Saharan Africa, we conclude that mineral fertilizer use, as a core component of integrated soil fertility management, must increase and be co-applied with organic inputs to increase productivity and fertilizer use efficiency and restore and sustain soil health.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nairobi, Kenya",
    "Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Nairobi, Kenya",
    "Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), Blvd Francois Mitterand, 01 BP, 4029, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire",
    "Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique Pour le Développement (CIRAD), Harare, Zimbabwe",
    "University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe",
    "Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France",
    "CIRAD, Montpellier, France",
    "International Fertilizer Association (IFA), Paris, France",
    "Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Accra, Ghana",
    "International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Harare, Zimbabwe",
    "Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Wageningen, the Netherlands",
    "International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Nairobi, Kenya",
    "Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, Egerton University, Nairobi, Kenya",
    "Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium",
    "Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zurich), Zürich, Switzerland",
    "International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Accra, Ghana",
    "African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), Ben Guerir, Morocco"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 17,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Bernard Vanlauwe",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6016-6027"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tilahun Amede",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7777-634X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Prem Bindraban"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Rémi Cardinael",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9924-3269"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Antoine Couëdel",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5786-0939"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        0,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Marc Corbeels",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8084-9287"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Achim Dobermann",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5728-5594"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Oluwole Fatunbi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9439-9870"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        9,
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Gatien N. Falconnier",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3291-650X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "K.E. Giller",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5998-4652"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Rebbie Harawa"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Mercy Kamau"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Roel Merckx",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6440-5363"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14
      ],
      "name": "Johan Six",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9336-4185"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "Zachary Stewart",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4058-8526"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "M.K. van Ittersum",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8611-6781"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        16
      ],
      "name": "Shamie Zingore",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0204-7913"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/117653v267nhj.bib",
  "cited_by": 5,
  "doi": "10.1038/s44264-026-00161-w",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "117653v267nhj",
  "issns": [
    "2731-9202"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-026-00161-w",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1111|Agricultural Science and Fertilization"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7166552761",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s44264-026-00161-w.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-06-29",
  "publisher": "Springer Science+Business Media",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/117653v267nhj.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T13:21:09Z",
      "native_id": "W7166552761",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-026-00161-w"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:1111|Agricultural Science and Fertilization",
      "subfield": "hydrology-soils"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fertilizer and soil health for sustained crop production in sub-Saharan Africa: Theory and conceptual framework",
  "title_text": "Fertilizer and soil health for sustained crop production in sub-Saharan Africa: Theory and conceptual framework",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T13:20:45Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/117653v267nhj",
  "venue": "npj Sustainable Agriculture",
  "versions": []
}