African experts highlight soil degradation, climat...

African experts highlight soil degradation, climate impacts on crop yields

NAIROBI, Xinhua - Agriculture experts from Africa on Tuesday attributed low crop yields to land degradation, soil acidity and the unfolding climate crisis on the continent.

The experts who spoke on the sidelines of the Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, said that acute land degradation has undermined efforts to feed the continent’s growing population.

Oluwole Fatunbi, the acting director of research and innovation at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, noted that 65 percent of crop land is degraded hence leading to low yield.

Fatunbi said that land degradation costs farmers on the continent 68 billion US dollars annually in their attempts to prepare land for farming.

“We need to increase extension services and adopt farming practices that help reduce the effects of climate change,” Fatunbi said, stressing the need for African farmers to apply fertiliser and sustain themselves.

Manyewu Mutamba, acting head of agriculture at the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development, said that the continental body has developed an action plan to guide member states on soil initiatives that target improving productivity.

Mutamba noted that the action plan is in line with the African Unions Agenda 2063 and envisions managing the soil for the benefit of producing food for trade among the citizens of the neighbouring countries.

Eyasu Elias, state minister for natural resource management in the Ministry of Agriculture in Ethiopia, said that acidity in the soil is blamed for 50 to 100 percent of yield losses in most parts of Ethiopia.

Elias said that despite the loss, 96 percent of farmers have opted for the use of fertiliser, which has led to improved yields of maize and teff.

He said that Ethiopia has also developed compost centres where the youth are employed to produce compost manures that are sold to farmers.

Paul Ronoh, principal secretary at the State Department for Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that Kenya has developed a soil plan to help farmers learn how to treat their land.

Ronoh added that the East African nation has also developed a handbook to provide guidance to farmers on acidic soil management.