According to Amit Roy of International Fertilizer Development Center based in U.S.A; crops consume an upwards of 45kg of nutrients and minerals from each hectare per season (Boosting African Farm Yields; accessed October 8, 2010). With an estimated 170 million hectares of Africa’s farmland degraded and grain yield stagnating at 1 tonne per hectare (compared to an expected average of 3 tonnes per hectare), farmers perennially loose the battle against famine.