The declining soil quality of farmlands in Africa has become a phenomenon that has continued to negatively impact the agricultural production capacity and food security in the continent.
The issue of soil degradation has been linked to the severe food crisis facing the continent, with many countries experiencing food shortages, hunger, and malnutrition.
Over the years, African leaders have taken steps to scale up cutting-edge soil health and sustainable fertiliser practices and unlock new growth opportunities, enhance agricultural productivity, and create a more resilient farming landscape across the continent.
One of such was the summit held in 2006, when the leaders endorsed the Abuja Declaration, which was aimed at reversing poor soil productivity by increasing fertiliser use from 8kg per hectare to 50kg per hectare within 10 years.
The declaration’s objective was to raise and sustain higher rates of economic growth (7% per year) by increasing fertiliser use to stimulate agricultural productivity growth to end hunger and poverty in Africa.
However, 17 years after, progress has lagged, with fertiliser usage rates in the continent remaining among the lowest globally.
In order to address this, an Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit was held in Kenya during the week. It was aimed at addressing the lagging agricultural productivity across the continent through improved soil management and increased fertiliser usage.
The summit was organised by the African Union’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Environment, in collaboration with the AU’s development agency AUDA-NEPAD, regional economic communities, and partners.
The summit, which brought together governments, private sector, civil society and other stakeholders to agree on an African Fertiliser and Soil Health Action Plan, as well as a Soils Initiative for Africa, was used as avenue to deliberate extensively on the continent’s decades-long decline in farmland soil quality that continues to negatively impact agricultural production capacity and food security.
For the expected 10-year action plan, they provided recommendations for new policies and investments to help farmers rebuild soil health and increase fertiliser efficiency and profitability.
They also recalibrated on strategies for boosting sustainable productivity growth in African agriculture – a crucial step for economic transformation and improving rural livelihoods that depend on farming incomes.
While endorsements was done by leaders, financial partners and other stakeholders for a Nairobi Declaration, Action Plan, Soils Initiative and financing mechanism, the participants recognised the urgent need to revitalise the continent’s depleted soils, described by Kenya’s president as “black gold” underfoot, to achieve food security amid growing climate, conflict and other challenges.
It was within the framework that Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), in collaboration with the CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy Initiative, hosted the healthy soils for food system transformation – innovative agronomic solutions, on the sidelines of the summit.
The side event was used to unveil Innovative Agronomic Solutions for Africa from the TAAT e-catalogue and the CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) Initiative. It also provide vistas on the scale-up of practical solutions and recommendations rooted in proven technologies for enhancing soil fertility management, addressing acid soil issues, and promoting sustainable landscape management.
According to the Head of TAAT Clearinghouse, Dr Solomon Gizaw, TAAT, in collaboration with the EiA, working with leading technology developers and demand partners, have acquired and vetted cutting-edge soil fertility innovations for scaling readiness and have integrated them into an electronic technology catalogue, which is accessible to everyone through a click of the mouse.”
“The overarching objective of this session is to scale up cutting-edge soil health and sustainable fertiliser practices and unlock new opportunities for growth, enhance agricultural productivity, and create a more resilient farming landscape across Africa,” Dr Gizaw added.
