The Promise of Microbial Fertilizer for Affordable and Sustainable Food Production in Africa

Tavneet Suri; Petar Madjarac; Robert D. van der Hilst

doi:10.3386/w34858

The Promise of Microbial Fertilizer for Affordable and Sustainable Food Production in Africa

Tavneet Suri, Petar Madjarac & Robert D. van der Hilst

Working Paper 34858

DOI 10.3386/w34858

Issue Date February 2026

Food insecurity is an existential threat for Africa (a continent facing rapid population growth and dire climate impacts) and addressing it a global imperative. Over 30% of caloric intake comes from maize, but crop yields are low partly because high costs make synthetic fertilizers uneconomical. A field experiment with Kenyan smallholder farmers explores the promise of genetically modified (microbial) biofertilizers to deliver nitrogen and increase yields at affordable costs. We see significant increases in yields (up to 110% for some farmers) and lower environmental impact than synthetic products. This suggests that biofertilizers could dramatically improve food security and child nutrition in Africa.

Suri is the Louis E. Seley Professor of Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the corresponding author. Madjarac is Chief Executive Officer at Field to Future. Van der Hilst is the Schlumberger Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at MIT. We are indebted to Pushyami Chilakapati for research assistance. We gratefully acknowledge funding from MIT Sloan. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals were obtained from MIT and Kenya. We are grateful to Suleiman Asman and Bonface Ndungu at Decagon Consulting for managing and running all the fieldwork. Sources of financial support for the article submitted: MIT Sloan School of Management Positions as officer, director or board member: International Food and Policy Research Institute (Tavneet Suri); Africa2080 (Tavneet Suri and Robert van der Hilst) Data: All the data used in this paper will be deidentified and made public upon publication of the paper. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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Tavneet Suri, Petar Madjarac, and Robert D. van der Hilst, "The Promise of Microbial Fertilizer for Affordable and Sustainable Food Production in Africa," NBER Working Paper 34858 (2026), https://doi.org/10.3386/w34858.

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The Promise of Microbial Fertilizer for Affordable and Sustainable Food Production in Africa

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