Sustainable Phosphorus Summit Africa 2025

#SPS8Africa

30th September - 3rd October 2025

Accra, Ghana

Alisa Hotel North Ridge - 21 Dr. Isert Road North Ridge

Download the SPS8 Booklet

Register today - NOW CLOSED

  • If you require an invitation letter, email sps8@ceh.ac.uk

  • Student package £480, Full package £630

  • Donation options, and JustGiving page

Visa on Arrival service - NOW CLOSED

  • Only for registered delegates - link sent via confirmation email

  • $50 cash paid at airport

The 8th Sustainable Phosphorus Summit is coming to Africa

Meet the team

The 8th Global Sustainable Phosphorus Summit (SPS8) will be held in the continent of Africa for the very first time.

SPS8 will focus attention on priority actions for achieving sustainable phosphorus management in Africa and globally. The summit will enable communities and sectors to work together fostering new opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and, capacity-development.

SPS8 is convened by The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Ghana, The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology West Africa Office, Lancaster University, and Rothamsted Research. CSIR leads a Local Organising Committee (LOC), with support from our International Expert Working Group (IEWG) and International Coordination Team (ICT).

The IEWG were in charge of drafting the programme and managing the peer review process for speakers, the LOC charged with designing an opening programme, providing on-the-ground expertise, and managing sponsorships, field trips, and side events. The ICT dealt with conference organisation, budgeting, communications, and coordinating all other committees and delegates.

Working Groups

  • WG1. Phosphorus Action Plan for Africa

    Includes African Sustainable Phosphorus Network (ASPN) side-event on the second day.

    Facilitated by Adelaide Asante and Kwame Frimpong

    ASPN concept note

  • WG2. Global Phosphorus White Paper

    Covering the 6 global phosphorus challenges from a global and African perspective.

    Facilitated by Issy Lewis and Will Brownlie

    Find out more

  • WG3. Early Career Researchers Initiative

    Enabling the Next Generation of Sustainable Phosphorus Champions (ECR-led discussion).

    Facilitated by Malika Mezeli, Grace Kangara and Kasper Reitzel

    Find out more

Solidarity messages

By UNEP, APNI, CSIR, FARA, DBG, Africa Soil Hub, Soil Science Society of Ghana

Six phosphorus challenges

Read more in Kangara et al. (2025)

  • Phosphorus is critical in supporting global food security. How can we improve the phosphorus use efficiency in food production systems?

  • Access to phosphorus is varied across the world and we need to improve access and benefits where needed, e.g. Africa. How can we address the imbalance in phosphorus fertiliser use?

  • Phosphorus pollution of water can result in biodiversity loss and human health impacts. How can we reduce the transfer of phosphorus from land to water and manage/mitigate its effects?

  • There are complex interactions between phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon and climate. We must increase our understanding and awareness of this, developing integrated mitigation and adaptation plans.

  • Sustainable mining and recycling are essential to preserve phosphorus for future generations. We must balance the supply of new phosphorus from mining, with increased attention to varied recycling streams.

  • We need to improve our governance of phosphorus locally and globally. We need to explore new opportunities for effective governances at multiple levels to help enact the transformations required.

SPS8 includes 3 choices of field trips

On the last day, there will be a choice of attending three field sites:

  1. Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACaRP) - download flyer

  2. Volta River Authority (VRA) - download flyer

  3. Cocoa Research Institute Ghana (CRIG) - download flyer

SPS8 has inclusivity at its heart

Discover our inclusivity principles

SPS8 has inclusivity at its heart, recognising that delivering the benefits of sustainable phosphorus use from the local to global stages requires urgent actions across communities, research, industry, policy makers and the public.

What is a Sustainable Phosphorus Summit?

SPS is an established global series focused on phosphorus sustainability.  Since its inception in 2010, the SPS series has been held every 2-4 years on all continents – except Africa.

The SPS as an international, multi-stakeholder conference to advance research, dialogue, networking, and action involving the sustainable use of phosphorus.

Previous SPS:

Our sponsors

Email us

sps8@ceh.ac.uk

Event co-convened by