Germany will send financial support to Kenya to boost the country’s production of fertilisers with green hydrogen produced by renewable energies to help reduce the country’s dependence on fossil-fuelled fertiliser imports.

Funds set to support climate-friendly fertiliser production in the country are to be disbursed before the end of the year, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced after talks with her Kenyan counterpart William Ruto in Berlin on Tuesday.

“Renewable energies can address multiple challenges at once – from the climate crisis to hunger,” the Social Democrat said in a statement.

The production of synthetic fertilisers is highly gas intensive – a need that has traditionally been met through fossil gas.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s ensuing sanctions against Moscow and Minsk sent fertiliser prices skyrocketing due to the drop in Russian gas imports to many countries and the disruption of mineral exports from Russia Belarus.

“This year, the world has been made painfully aware of the fatal consequences that the dependence on expensive fossil fertilisers can have for food security,” Schulze said.

With Germany’s support, Berlin hopes Kenya could produce synthetic fertilisers using green hydrogen rather than fossil gas – that is, hydrogen produced using renewable energies.

Schulze’s push comes as part of a broader climate partnership that Germany and Kenya had first agreed on during the 2022 world climate conference in Sharm El-Sheik.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Schulze and Ruto agreed to extend the scope of this partnership.

(Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)