Baobab Impact

The Smallholder Green Ammonia Initiative

The Smallholder Green Ammonia Initiative

Join an open, community-led platform on the latest science, policy, financing, and field realities

Stay updated when we host events on how we can advance the green ammonia initiaitive

Next roundtable

January 19, 2027

Collaboration

Gather at roundtable to discuss novel ways we can advance this new technology

Stay connected

We will keep members stakeholders up to date with events and discussions around the initiative

NEWS

Latest news on Green Ammonia in Africa

8 Sep 2026

Kenyan green ammonia project breaks ground

Quantum Commodity Intelligence

18 Aug 2026

South Africa’s $5.8bn green hydrogen ammonia project takes big leap forward

Mining Weekly

10 Mar 2026

Fertilizer price jump threatens African food security

African Sustainability Matters

14 Jan 2026

Egypt’s 100 MW green hydrogen project enters partial production

Hydrogen Tech World

4 Nov 2025

Kenya Launches $800 Million Green Ammonia Fertiliser Project

AFRIQOM

Green ammonia production offers a way to dramatically reduce the cost and improve the availability of fertilizer

Green ammonia uses power from the grid, solar and other green technology to draw nitrogen from the air and hydrogen from water, producing aqueous or anhydrous ammonia — the building block of all mineral fertilizers — on site, without fossil fuels.

Analytical frameworks grounded in

market realities and local context.

1/4

yield

African crop yields are a fourth of yields in North America and East Asia, primarily driven by limited fertilizer access

22 vs 146

kg per hectare

Fertilizer applied per hectare in Sub-Saharan Africa versus the world average — a seven-fold gap

30–50%

cheaper

Cost of on-site green ammonia fertilizer versus imported fertilizer

Modular green ammonia plants are operating in Africa, but adapting their output for smallholder farms is still a work in progress

The technology works and is already producing ammonia. The barrier is what happens after the plant: most routes from ammonia to a crop were designed for large farms.

Injected as anhydrous ammonia

82% nitrogen, the cheapest form there is. Stored under pressure, then knifed four to eight inches into the soil by tractor across large, contiguous fields. Injection requires pressure vessels, a toolbar and a licensed operator.

82% nitrogen, the cheapest form there is. Stored under pressure, then knifed four to eight inches into the soil by tractor across large, contiguous fields. Requires pressure vessels, a toolbar and a licensed operator.

Diluted into aqueous ammonia

Dilute it and it becomes safe enough to handle without specialist equipment. But most of what you then transport is water, so the cost of moving a kilo of nitrogen climbs steeply with every kilometre from the plant.

Converted into a solid fertilizer

Urea, CAN or ammonium sulphate — the products farmers already know and agro-dealers already stock. Conversion requires a second plant downstream, and the economics have so far only worked at national scale.

Bound to a carrier like biochar

Ammonia is absorbed into biochar, zeolite or compost, giving a solid that releases nitrogen slowly and loses less of it to the air. Carriers can be made from local crop waste. But the evidence so far comes from lab and field trials, and the nitrogen content is far lower than urea.

Reacted into ammonium bicarbonate

Ammonia reacts with CO₂ to form a simple solid fertilizer at 17% nitrogen, with no second plant downstream. Small Chinese plants once supplied much of the country's nitrogen this way. But it breaks down in heat and humidity, and crops recover only about 30% of its nitrogen.

The missing link is how to reach smallholder farmers

The Smallholder Green Ammonia Initiative brings together key stakeholders to tackle critical questions whose answers will unlock this breakthrough technology

Analytical frameworks grounded in

market realities and local context.

PRODUCERS