'Blood phosphate' at what cost? Part VI - what's in a chemical? The NZ Fertiliser Council on moving away from using phosphate: May 20, 2020

Lillian Hanly is looking into the importing of what has been called 'blood phospate' from Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. There have been five parts broadcast already, this is the sixth. So, to recap a little:

Around 170,000 Saharawi people were forced out of their own land when Morocco invaded in 1975, today they live as refugees separated by a constructed wall and littered with mines. Western Sahara is rich in resources, and it is understood Morocco is taking advantage of this. One particular resource that is being mined without the consent of the Saharawi people is phosphate. Two of the three remaining companies in the world to buy this disputed phosphate from Morocco are NZ companies. Australia, Canada, America - all have pulled out of this trade in the hope that the referendum, called for in 1991, can take place. So the Saharawi people can choose their independece. in Part IIII we hear from two different people in Aotearoa with solutions as to how we could use less phosphate - and therefore not rely on a trade that extracts the resource from a country where human rights abuses are taking place.

Anders Crofoot is the Chair of New Zealand’s Fertiliser Council. This Council oversees the quality of fertiliser, making sure the products farmers are buying are legit in terms of what they say they are. The Council was established after the government reduced regulation on this issue during the 80s. Lillian reached out to Anders wanting to get a perspective from farmers in relation to the phosphate issue she has been looking into regarding the Western Sahara. Lillian's key question is around whether we can move away from relying so much on phosphate generally, but also specifically from the Western Sahara. This is first and foremost due to the human rights concerns related but also due to the fact that phosphate is a finite resource. So what actually happens when it all runs out? How do we continue farming if we rely so much on this? Anders takes us through what the Fertiliser Council does and why phosphate is needed in the soil - but also on how we might not need to use so much.