The degradation of farmland across sub-Saharan Africa has accelerated at an ominous rate over the past decade, deepening a hunger crisis that already afflicts more than 240 million Africans. “Fertilizer that could restore productivity is far too expensive for Africa’s small and often impoverished farmers. Fertilizer in Africa costs two to six times the world average. African farmers use less than 10 percent as much fertilizer as Asian farmers do.”