Kenya: Dissenting voices at Nairobi Soil Health Forum over increased use of fertilizers

May 9, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

Nairobi — When the African Summit on Fertilizers and Soil Health met in Nairobi to review the progress made in terms of increasing fertilizer use in line with the 2006 Abuja Declaration, experts, professionals, activists and even government officials noted that Accelerated use of fertilizers may not be the magic solution to increasing food production in Africa.

During the opening ceremony of the summit, Kenya’s First Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who was also the guest of honor, said that in Kenya there are places where fertilizers have been used optimally, but maize yields have have stagnated.

“Though fertilizers are estimated to contribute more than 30 per cent of crop yields, we have witnessed in our country that fertilizers alone cannot sustain higher agricultural productivity and output,” he said.

Studies have also shown that the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers has had a significant impact on soil acidity in many African countries, which is a major constraint to crop production and sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems. scale.

According to an ongoing research project known as the Investment Guide for the Management of Acid Soils in Africa (GAIA), 15 percent of all agricultural soils in Africa are affected by acidity problems and this has led to the degradation of soil, lower availability of soil nutrients for plants, and lower plant production and water use.

According to Dr. George Oduor, soil scientist and international research consultant, African farmers should now consider or expand the use of the Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) approach with a focus on return on investment and consider the use of lime in acidic soils. .

“Governments in Africa need to develop locally responsive tools that can advise farmers on how to combine different organic and inorganic fertilizers, how and when to intercrop legumes for nitrogen fixation, and which crops to prioritize in different agroecological zones.” Oduor said in an interview with IPS.

However, some activists feel that a complete shift from synthetic fertilizers to organic farming methods such as agroecology, regenerative agriculture (RA) approach, and permaculture, among other sustainable farming techniques, is necessary.

“The heavy financial burden placed on African nations to support the purchase of expensive imported fertilizers depletes local economies and diverts funds from more sustainable local agricultural investments,” said Bridget Mugambe, program coordinator for the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa ( AFSA). .

He called on governments and policymakers at the summit and across Africa to recognize the enormous potential of agroecology to sustainably increase food security and sovereignty, to reduce poverty and hunger while at the same time conserve biodiversity and respect indigenous knowledge.

So far, Kenya is one of the African countries that is in the process of developing policies for agroecology. The country also launched the National Agricultural Land Management Policy (NASMP) alongside the Nairobi AFSH summit. The policy will help facilitate the restoration and maintenance of agricultural lands to increase productivity, improve food security and contribute to poverty reduction, while conserving soil and water resources for future generations.

Within local governments, Murang’a County in central Kenya was the first to develop the legal framework for agroecology, through which the government can easily allocate resources for the production of organic fertilizers and pesticides.

“The main reason we had to pioneer this is that our region is greatly affected by climate change and therefore agroecology became a priority as a way to adapt to the phenomenon,” said Daniel Gitahi, director of Agricultural Policies and Value Chains. and Strategy.

“The second reason is that as a county government, we observed that our yields were declining despite optimal use of fertilizers, and upon investigation, we found that our soils had become more acidic due to excessive use of fertilizers based on nitrogen,” he said. .

Other solutions presented at the summit include the use of fermented organic fertilizer ‘bokashi’, which has moved from small-scale production to commercial scale in some African countries.

“I have been able to transform my tea plantation using bokashi, plus I no longer use fertilizers on my maize farm in West Pokot County and yet my yields have almost doubled,” said Esther Bett, CEO of Resources Oriented Development Initiative (RODI Kenya).

RODI Kenya already packages and sells bokashi fertilizers through farm shops across the country and has the capacity to produce up to 10 tonnes per month.