Cooperating countries: Morocco, Tanzania, Austria

Coordinating institution: University of Vienna

Project coordinator: Dr. Nils Haneklaus

Partner institution: Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, University Mohammed VI Polytechnic

Project duration: 01.07.2026-30.06.2028

Budget: 40.000,00 €

Tanzania’s population is projected to grow from 69 to 100 million by 2034 and food production will have to double by 2030 to keep pace with the growing number of people and their changing diets. Tanzanian farmers currently use only 19 kg/ha of fertilizer which is far below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 37 kg/ha and the Abuja Declaration target of 50 kg/ha. High fertilizer prices have long been a barrier for most Tanzanian farmers, limiting their usage and resulting in lower crop yields. The 2-year interdisciplinary “Food4Less” project, led by Dr. Nils Haneklaus (specialist in alternative fertilizers) from the University of Vienna (UniVIE) in Austria, Dr. Kelvin Mtei (local specialist in fertilizer design/application) from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Tanzania and Dr. Hamid Mazouz (specialist in large scale industrial fertilizer production) from the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Morocco, will assess the feasibility of large-scale, inexpensive fertilizer production from alternative Moroccan phosphorus sources for use on the highly acidic soils present in Tanzania and other parts of East Africa. The project will design new fertilizers in Austria/Morocco that will then be tested on maize/tobacco in Tanzania. The modest mobility funding requested here will be supported by large in-kind contributions in form of national funding already available at the partner institutions (nearly EUR 350,000 in Austria alone). Findings will be published in at least four peer-reviewed publications, with the commitment to secure at least EUR 800,000 for larger follow-up projects.