Just Enough Nitrogen: Perspectives on how to get there for regions with too much and too little nitrogen

This volume provides a unique collection of contributions addressing both the ‘too much’ and ‘too little’ sides of the nitrogen story. Building on analyses started at the 6th International Nitrogen Conference, Kampala, the book explores the idea of ‘just enough nitrogen’: sufficient for sustainable food production, but not so much as to lead to unsustainable pollution and climate problems. The range of nitrogen threats examined, solutions evaluated and science-policy analyses presented here has provided the foundation to agree the ‘Kampala Statement-for-Action on Nitrogen in Africa and Globally,’ as reported in this volume. 

Humanity today faces unprecedented challenges: How to feed a growing population? How to reduce air pollution, water pollution and climate change? How to handle regional differences in an era of increasing globalization? These questions are at the heart of this edited volume which examines the multi-dimensional nature of the global nitrogen challenge. While humans have massively altered the nitrogen cycle, the consequences have become polarized. Some regions have too much nitrogen, associated with pollution and wasteful use of a valuable resource, while other regions have too little nitrogen, leading to constraints on food production and depletion of soil nutrient stocks. 

The volume provides a unique collection of contributions addressing both the ‘too much’ and ‘too little’ sides of the nitrogen story. Building on analyses started at the 6th International Nitrogen Conference, Kampala, the book explores the idea of ‘just enough nitrogen’: sufficient for sustainable food production, but not so much as to lead to unsustainable pollution and climate problems. The range of nitrogen threats examined, solutions evaluated and science-policy analyses presented here has provided the foundation to agree the ‘Kampala Statement-for-Action on Nitrogen in Africa and Globally,’ as reported in this volume. 

Together, the contributions in this book are now informing actions by the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) in working with the United Nations Environment Programme and others to establish the International Nitrogen Management System (INMS). A key outcome has been to catalyse development of the first Resolution on Sustainable Nitrogen Management, as adopted by the fourth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA/EA.4/Res.14).

The work is written for researchers and policy makers and all those interested in seeing how sustainable nitrogen management can contribute to meeting many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Prof. Mark A. Sutton is an environmental physicist based at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, in Edinburgh. An expert on atmospheric ammonia, he leads international research activities on nitrogen at the science–policy interface. He is a former chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) and currently directs the UNEP/GEF International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) and the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund’s South Asian Nitrogen Hub.

Kate E. Mason is a professional archivist by training, based at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh where she works in an editorial capacity as part of the International Nitrogen Coordination Team. In addition to being Managing Editor of the present volume, she was Managing Co-Editor of the Springer book, Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity.

Dr. Albert Bleeker is an environmental scientist based at the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).  A former Director of Operations of the International Nitrogen Initiative and expert on nitrogen, atmospheric processes and critical loads, he now leads national scale analyses on nitrogen and environment. 

Dr. W. Kevin Hicks is Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute, based at the University of York.  His research interests cover air pollution impacts on terrestrial ecosystems from local to global scales, ecosystem services, air pollution issues in developing countries, and the transfer of scientific information to the policy process. He has helped organize various workshops, including a global meeting on Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity which was the subject of a book published by Springer (2014). He is the currently Director of the European Centre of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI).

Dr. Cargele Masso is a Senior Researcher at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based at its Yaoundé Research Station, Cameroon. An agronomist by training, his research focuses on nutrient management for improved livelihoods. He is a former Director of INI for Africa, and currently leads the East Africa Demonstration activity of the International Nitrogen Management System, focused on Lake Victoria Basin.

Prof. N. Raghuram is the Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative and a biotechnologist based at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. His research focuses on nitrogen use efficiency under the NEWS India-UK and UKRI-GCRF-SANH. He co-led the Indian Nitrogen Assessment and facilitated the UN resolution on ‘Sustainable Nitrogen Management’. He is a Steering Committee member of the UNEP-GPNM, Trustee of the Sustainable India Trust and Editor in Chief of the journal, Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants (Springer). 

Dr. Stefan Reis is Head of Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects (ACE) of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, based in Edinburgh. He is an expert on integrated modelling and assessment of impacts of air pollution and climate change on human health and ecosystems. His work focuses on development and application of conceptual models to link human and ecosystem health impact assessment.

Prof. Mateete Bekunda is Chief Scientist of the Africa RISING Program’s East and Southern Africa Project funded by USAID:  ‘Sustainable Intensification of Maize-based Farming Systems of East and Southern Africa’, hosted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, based at Arusha, Tanzania.  He is an expert in soil fertility, former Professor of Soil Science and Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Makerere University, and was previously INI Regional Director for Africa.