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Georgina Smith/CIAT

Can Africa afford to save its soils?

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This post is written in response to: Can Africa Afford to Save its Soils?

2015 is THE year that is putting soils on the global map. Everyone in the development and agriculture world is talking about it, not least the researchers, donors and experts currently gathered in Berlin for Global Soils Week (GSW).

But while those at the top search for solutions to this global crisis, they must ensure that the guardians of the majority of the world’s farmland – smallholder farmers – are included.

“Small scale farmers need affordable and practical solutions to protect their soil,” Sommer said. “We need to listen to farmers to find out what soil means to them, how they manage soil fertility and what information they rely on to do so. And we need to work with them so that we can develop appropriate and culturally specific technologies that they can – and, more importantly, will – incorporate into their farming practices.”

Read more on the CIAT Blog: Farmers Talk Soil

Previous response

We asked, you answered: Can Africa afford to save its soils?

The general consensus holds that soil rehabilitation in Africa (and elsewhere) is absolutely necessary, but the process of reaching a decent level of soil fertility is problematic – everyone holds a different agenda when comes to the importance of improving soils.

Big Question

Can Africa afford to save its soils?

In celebration of the International Year of Soils, we asked a number of experts: Can poor farmers afford to invest in restoring degraded soils? Read their responses.

Next response

Sustainable Intensification works for small farmers

Evidence from a large number of agroecosystems and countries shows that poor farmers can and do invest in improvements that lead to increased food outputs if they have access to human capital in terms of knowledge and convincing evidence, social capital (so that collective actions can transform whole landscapes), and available technologies and practices.

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