Villagers show scientific ideas not purview of scientists alone

There has long been overlooked natural soil enriching techniques passed on from one generation to another in African communities that one wishes should have prominently featured at the seventh Africa Agriculture Science Week and Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) General Assembly meeting in Kigali last week. The soils are so enriched that they could sustain food crops without artificial fertilizers. The National Geographic cites a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment that analyzed 150 sites in northwest Liberia and 27 sites in Ghana and discovered that the enriched soils, dubbed ‘African Dark Earths’, contain 200 to 300 per cent more organic carbon than nearby soils and can support more intensive farming (See “How Africans Are Saving Their Own Soil”). The soils also contain 2 to 26 times greater amounts of pyrogenic carbon, which persists longer in soil than other carbons and is important for soil fertility. The study notes that African Dark Earths can be found in many places on the continent. And yet little – if any – scientific literature on this exists. Village elders talk about the soil enrichment as if it’s the obvious thing to do, yet no one had ever asked them about it before. They always associate the age of their town with the depth of the black soil. Village farmers are drawn to old ruins ripe with the detritus of people and animal waste, and charred remains of plants and trees. In addition to other waste management activities in the village, the peasants turn poor, heavy soil into a dark, nutritious plant medium, which is used judiciously by the communities. Crops grown in this soil account for a large proportion of household income yet they are spread only on small amounts of land. This makes a case for smallholder farming. Small farms account for 80 per cent of all farms in sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries, they contribute up to 90 per cent of produce. They have the potential to be key suppliers to Africa’s burgeoning urban markets, as well as supplying rural markets. As told in a keynote speech by Dr Kanayo Nwanze, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), at the sixth FARA meeting in Ghana in 2013, it has been estimated that for sub-Saharan Africa, growth generated by agriculture is 11 times more effective in reducing poverty than GDP growth in other sectors. Successful small farms can create vibrant rural economies with a range of nonfarm enterprises, providing a variety of jobs, decent income and food security. This tells us that what we might call “subsistence agriculture” is basically an under-performing agricultural system, he says. In the meantime, at the FARA meeting in Kigali, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina lamented how “Africa is importing what it should be producing.” Africa spends $35 billion on importing food with the figure projected to grow to $110 billion by 2025, he observed. There clearly is no reason why Africa should have to import any food. Dr Nwanze reminds us that there are 800 million hectares of uncultivated land with rain-fed crop potential in sub-Saharan Africa, and virtually none in South and East Asia or North Africa. This means that, unlike many other parts of the world, sub-Sahara Africa has room for agriculture to expand. Demand exists and is growing, not only for raw, primary produce but also higher-end food products. Simply providing smallholders with improved seed and access to irrigation is half the equation. The farmers can use the enriched, environmentally clean soils instead of artificial fertilizers. Dr Nwanze added that the other half of the equation for food and nutrition security includes the right policies, investment in rural infrastructure, and access to land and local, national regional markets. All told, however, there’s a feeling that FARA and the scientific promise it harbours – of African solutions – do not seem to get broad media attention they deserve regionally and across the continent. And, yet, the fact that a crucial resource, such as the enriched soils, can come from the hands of peasants show that scientific ideas and discoveries are not the purview of scientists alone. For this reason, the enriching techniques should have featured at the Science Week.

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Villagers show scientific ideas not purview of scientists alone