Africa: Experts Urge Tax Subsidies On Crop Inputs As Global Hunger and Climate Crises Converge

Africa: Experts Urge Tax Subsidies On Crop Inputs As Global Hunger and Climate Crises Converge


Global leaders attending the SB62 Climate Summit in Bonn are under growing pressure to reconfigure agricultural subsidies in favour of crop production, as leading food systems advocates and UN agencies warn that current policies are driving hunger, poor diets, and environmental degradation.

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and World Food Programme (WFP) joined climate campaigners in demanding urgent tax subsidies for seeds, fertilisers, and agricultural equipment–especially in low-income nations where food insecurity is rising.

Speaking in Bonn, Enric Noguera of the Plant-Based Treaty campaign and Jeroom Remmers of the True Animal Protein Price Coalition (TAPP) argued for a seismic shift in public spending away from livestock-based subsidies and toward crop inputs.

“We must redirect subsidies away from animal agriculture and towards crop inputs–seeds, fertiliser, machinery–to boost productivity and food security globally,” Remmers said.

Noguera reinforced the urgency, calling food system reform “non-negotiable,” and essential not only for ending hunger but for ensuring climate resilience and health.

These calls echo longstanding concerns from UN institutions. FAO’s State of Food Security reports from 2020-21 flagged skyrocketing hunger and the unaffordability of healthy diets, urging governments to shift subsidies toward fruits, vegetables, and staple crops.

In 2023, FAO, WHO, and WFP jointly called for a repurposing of harmful agricultural subsidies to protect vulnerable communities and stabilize markets.

The WHO’s 2024 hunger report went further, describing subsidy reallocation as a “key policy lever” for financing healthier diets.

A May 2025 cost-climate-nutrition model showed that with adequate input support, a sustainable low-carbon diet could be achieved at just $6.95 per day while emitting only 0.67kg CO₂e.

Uganda featured prominently at the summit, with its Ministry of Health citing stagnating crop yields and malnutrition among children under five–currently at 29%.

Officials stated that, based on FAO guidance, tax exemptions on fertilisers, seeds, and irrigation tools could increase yields by 20% and reduce stunting by 5 percentage points within two years.

“The evidence is overwhelming,” said a Ministry representative. “Tax subsidies on crop inputs are no longer a luxury but a necessity.”