Yang, H;
Liu, Y;
Liu, J;
Meng, J;
Hu, X;
Tao, S;
(2019)
Improving the Imbalanced Global Supply Chain of Phosphorus Fertilizers.
Earth's Future
, 7
(6)
pp. 638-651.
10.1029/2018EF001005.
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Abstract
The unbalanced use of phosphorus fertilizers at the global scale has resulted in phosphorus fertilizer scarcity in less developed areas as well as eutrophication problems in developed and large emerging countries. Historically, the uneven distribution of phosphate rock has been regarded as the major reason for this unbalanced use. However, the international trade of commodities may also play an important role in the unbalanced use of phosphorus fertilizers. By tracing the trade flows of commodities, we found that nearly 5.2 Tg of phosphorus fertilizer was embodied in traded commodities, which were mainly exported from large emerging countries (with low phosphorus use efficiencies) to developed countries (e.g., the US, Western Europe and Japan, commonly with high phosphorus use efficiencies). Furthermore, among the 5.2 Tg of phosphorus fertilizer embodied in traded commodities, 2.5 Tg was embodied in the trade of commodities from industry, construction, and services. Our results indicate that this trade pattern could create substantial mutual benefits if improvements are made to the phosphorus supply chain. With technology transfer and financial support from developed countries, large emerging countries could use phosphorus fertilizers more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of eutrophication and lowering the cost of agricultural production. The phosphorus fertilizers saved by large emerging countries could be partially used to enhance food production in Sub‐Saharan African countries. This optimized supply chain could reduce eutrophication, conserve phosphate rock resources, and enhance global agricultural production.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Improving the Imbalanced Global Supply Chain of Phosphorus Fertilizers |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2018EF001005 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EF001005 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | phosphorus fertilizer, international trade, eutrophication, food production |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10077768 |
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