In a Keynote Statement delivered on her behalf by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa’s Executive Director Dr. Aggrey Agumya, the African Union’s Commissioner for Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, HE Ambassador Josefa Sacko calls on African state Leaders and High-Level Business Executives for collaborative efforts to address Africa’s food security and boost agribusiness during the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2024 hosted by the President of Ghana H.E Nana Akuffo Addo at the Peduase Presidential Lodge in Accra.
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa’s Executive Director Dr. Aggrey Agumya delivering the Keynote speech on behalf of the AUC-DARBE Commissioner H.E Amb. Josefa Sacko.
“Your Excellencies, this reality has compelled us to rethink our approach and take decisive actions. It’s time to break free from the chains of dependency and create a resilient and self-sustaining agricultural ecosystem,” her speech read, rallying African governments and the private sector to support the African Union’s Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs) initiative, which aligns with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The initiative was developed in collaboration with key High-Level partners on the continent, the AUDA-NEPAD, AfCFTA, AFREXIMBANK, and FARA. The CAAPs initiatve has gained momentum “with two Demonstration Projects set to commence this year— the Zambia-Zimbabwe CAAP for maize and dairy products, and the Cote d’Ivoire-Ghana CAAP for Cocoa transformation” her speech read.
These projects are the steppingstones to the establishment of the five large agro-industrial zones with transboundary mega agro-industries and food supply corridors, strategically positioned in each of the five geographical regions of Africa that will reshape the landscape of African agriculture,” she noted.
Dr. Aggrey Agumya (FARA) with the Executive Secretary of the Cote d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative, a panel speaker at the High-Level Panel II of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues
“CAAPs represents more than just a development initiative; they embody the resilience, determination, and collective will of the African continent to control its destiny. Our request for your full support and blessing is not just for the CAAPs but for a future where Africa leads in agriculture, agro-industrialization, and economic prosperity” she added.
A section of High-Level Delegates at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2024
Assuring the participating audience of its high success rate, H.E Amb. Sacko says stakeholders “can establish a vibrant business platform under the CAAPs, utilizing the instruments of the AfCFTA to secure our place in the global food market.”
Therefore, “CAAPs are not just a roadmap; they are the vehicle for an agro-industrial revolution that Africa urgently needs. Let us pledge our commitment to this vision, supporting the CAAPs as the flagship program of the AU Agenda 2063”.
Dr. Aggrey Agumya
Dr. Aggrey Agumya on the choice of FARA as secretariat for the CAAPs, reiterated the role of FARA as the apex continental organization responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research for development (AR4D) in Africa while serving as the technical arm of the Africa Union Commission on matters concerning agriculture science, technology and innovation.
The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressed the congregation as well. He took the chance to commend all participants in attendance and the organizers, the Africa Prosperity Network for putting together such an important and unique platform for the deliberation and discussion of comprehensive policies aimed at boosting intra-African Trade. He also announced Ghana’s commitment to implement a visa-free policy for all Africans traveling to the country in 2024.
The President disclosed that the government has initiated processes to implement the policy within the year.
H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, the President of the 4th Republic of Ghana
He stated that “I know that many of you had to acquire a visa to come to this event; we made a special arrangement for this conference. We reduced the visa acquisition fee by 50%, and we were thus able to receive your visa on arrival. The Government of Ghana is committed to ensuring visa-free access for all Africans travelling into our country, and the process has begun to implement the policy this year.”
A section of High-Level Delegates and the President of Ghana at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2024
The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) in collaboration with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat hold The Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2024, at the Peduase Presidential Lodge in Aburi, Ghana from January 25th to the 27th, hosting top business leaders, heads of international development institutions, social change markers, including heads of states among other diplomatic delegations. A few honorable mentions are the Ex-President of the Republic of Mozambique, Joachim Chissano, Executive Secretary of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, Dr Amany Asfour, the President of the Africa Business Council, Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, the assistant Director General of the FAO, Dr. Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture Ghana, Dr. Ibrahim Mahama, Mme. Patricia Poku-Diaby among others.
A consortium of three German research and implementation-oriented projects has begun developing a blueprint for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) covering all its dimensions regarding ecological, economic, and social aspects, especially gender equity. In Northern Ghana, two workshops were held at the Tamale campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) from November 15 to 23, 2023.
Participants during the INTERFACES, COINS and DECLARE projects meetings at the UDS Campus in Tamale, Ghana
Group Picture of stakeholders during the first meeting
The projects aim to address long-standing challenges within the sector on land use and ownership by strengthening the weak interaction between Science, Policy, and Practice. These initial workshops sought to establish a participatory learning platform for joint learning and exchange and develop a gender-responsive theory of change for sustainable land management. As an accompanying project, INTERFACES will focus on supporting the social dimensions of SLM, especially gender of the COINS and DecLaRe projects, which are being rolled out in the Northern and Savannah Regions as well as in other parts of Benin and Senegal.
First Two-Day Workshop With The COINS And DECLARE Projects at UDS Campus, Tamale
In her introductory remarks, the Project Lead of INTERFACES and Senior Scientist at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) University of Bonn, Dr. Tina Beuchelt, highlighted the need to enhance the fusion of research, policymakers and implementers. Acknowledging the historically low adoption rates, the INTERFACES team initiated a workshop to develop a Gender Responsive Theory of Change for Sustainable Land Management and establish a Participatory Learning Platform to strengthen adoption.
Dr. Tina Beuchelt, Project Lead of INTERFACES and Senior Scientist at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) University of Bonn.
This collaborative approach will strengthen the implementation of research results and contribute to developing effective land management strategies.
“That’s why we thought we must engage with you, the local stakeholders who are the key experts in this area. She added, “Start discussions, learn about your experience, exchange our experiences, and get your feedback”.
Envisioning sustainable land management, Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah, a Senior Researcher of the INTERFACES project, described it as empowering farmers to optimise land use, enhancing crop yields, generating social benefits for women and men, increasing income, and conserving the environment without causing pollution or degradation.
Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah, Senior Researcher, INTERFACES, ZEF, University of Bonn
To achieve this goal, INTERFACES aims to incorporate various stakeholders’ diverse perspectives and priorities in an inclusive approach, ensuring that everyone has a meaningful role to play in shaping a sustainable future for land management. This becomes a vehicle to achieve sustainable land management. Dr. David Anaafo, a Senior Researcher with WASCAL, describes this as being “timeless, taking into consideration the needs of our present and future generations”.
Dr. David Anaafo, Senior Researcher, WASCAL and INTERFACES
On the part of FARA, Mr. Benjamin Abugri, the Knowledge Management and Communications Specialist, highlighted the role and commitment of its organisation in ensuring that the projects’ results are mainstreamed and sustained within its knowledge services and tools for the more significant learning benefit for not just the project beneficiary countries but the entire African continent.
Mr. Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Learning and Communications Cluster Leader & INTERFACES Project Coordinator at FARA
Stakeholders highlighted conflict, urbanisation, weak legal frameworks, climate change and soil degradation, unregistered lands, changing land tenure systems and difficulties for women to access land, labour, and inputs, among others, as some of the critical areas affecting sustainable land management.
From the left, the ‘Women’ Chief of Zabzugu Traditional Area, Yelzoli Gaa-Naa, Hawawu A Salifu, in the middle, Secretary to the Paramount Chief of Gukpegu (Tamale) and Kpalung Zobogu Naa, Mohamed Rashad Abdulai and INTERFACES Project Lead Dr. Tina Beuchelt
Role of Traditional Authorities
The workshop explored options for actualising a fair distribution of land among men and women in the Northern region, as currently, according to participants at the workshop, women are highly disadvantaged in accessing land. Their main access is via their husbands, and they often only get small pieces of land to farm and the most marginal, least fertile plot. Increasing land scarcity, the pressure of investors, and the lack of documentation were identified as a few of the many issues, drivers and barriers to enable SLM. Present at the meeting was the Secretary to the Paramount Chief of Gukpegu (Tamale), who doubles as the Kpalung Zobogu Naa, Mohamed Rashad Abdulai.
Additionally, the ‘Women’ Chief of Zabzugu Traditional Area, who doubles as the Yelzoli Gaa-Naa, Hawawu A Salifu, was in attendance.
The Kpalung Zobogu Naa, Mohamed Rashad Abdulai, drawing reference from his position as the Secretary of one of the largest land secretariats in the Northern region, said “when you come to the data, there are multiple women having acres of land, so what it means is that you don’t need to carry your husband to the chief. Just meet with the elders who will lead you to the chief, and you’ll be granted access”.
On adopting the proposed approaches, he stated, “let’s start with the communication. When we are going to communicate, we must communicate in a cordial manner that will make people listen to us. Still, if we radicalise it, it won’t move a centimetre”. Yelzoli Gaa-Naa, Hawawu A. Salifu called for increased education to lease land instead of selling it, noting that in the near future “it will be difficult for natives to have land for farming”.
Promoting gender-responsive sustainable land management is essential as Dr. Constance Akurugu, a Senior Lecturer at the SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, believes that within the Northern region, “women are often seen as soon to leave members of their natal families, and when they finally arrive in the marital family they are often seen as, strangers and all closely tied to this or within the context of this women rarely have ownership to productive land.”
Therefore, with a call on traditional leaders and stakeholders to overcome the barriers, policymakers must “take initiatives that will lead to entering into a memorandum of understanding with landowners, heads of families and chiefs to ensure that once an agreement is entered into for women to have access to land, they can have access to the land to use for the period” she added.
Abdul Mateen Alhassan, a former Northern Regional Focal Person for the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, bemoaned farmers’ difficulty accessing funding and described the workshop as timely.
Some of the participants at the stakeholders INTERFACES, COINS and DECLARE meeting in Tamale
He explained that “even though land is not a problem in the Northern Region, financial institutions always demand a guarantee, but the fact that people are not registered with lands as their own and to say it is a borrowed one sometimes institutions find it difficult to understand and accept it as a collateral to grant farmers fund”.
Alhaji Alhassan, a farmer in Tolon explaining the practice of Integrated Soil Fertility Management at his farm to researchers of the INTERFACES, COINS and DECLARE projects
Field Visits to Tolon (Northern Region) and Busunu (Savannah Region)
CSIR-SARI’s Integrated Soil Fertility Management Intervention in Tolon District, also working with COINS living lab intervention
The first field visit on November 17 to the northwestern part of the Northern Region showcased the success rate of the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Intervention on Alhaji Alhassan’s farm who Agrometeorologist at CSIR-Savannah Agricultural Research Institute, Dr. Alhassan Lansah Abdulai describes as an “early adopter who integrated soil fertility management; and crop rotation as an integral part of their farming”.
Beginning in 2011, Dr. Abdulai applauded his consistency, noting that “he is a serious soybean, maise, sorghum and groundnut farmer who has practised crop rotation to the latter”.
Alhassan recounted that with old farm practices, they “used to suffer a lot in order to get more yields to feed our families, but with the new technologies, we put in less effort to get more yields.”
Testifying about the impact of research and extension officers, “What we get from 1 acre is equivalent to what we used to get from about 10 acres under the old system. For instance, I thought I had cultivated one acre for 2023 with my sorghum, but it was a little over one acre when we used the GPS. Despite losing about 2 bags of sorghum to post-harvest losses, I’ve got 13 bags of the 100 kg bag, but under the old system, you could cultivate large acreage and get only 6 bags. It has reduced our drudgery and cost of farming.”
For knowledge transfer among farmers, Dr. Abdulai highlights a farmer exchange program “so during the season, we will bring the other farmers here and send the other people there so that they will offer farmer-to-farmer advice”.
Farmers and Researchers discussing the outcome of the application of the microdosing innovation at a farm at Busunu in the Savanna Region of Ghana
Exploring a DecLaRe’s Project intervention and Greenhouse Farm in Busunu in the Savanna Region of Ghana
A field visit to the neighbouring Savanna Region on November 19 made a first stop at a greenhouse farm called Sadevco Gh in Busunu. The Farm Manager, Frederick Tetteh Pechi-Anim, welcomed and shared its vegetable production techniques of “different variety of vegetables; beefsteak tomato, cherry tomato, bell pepper, hot pepper, lettuce and Mediterranean cucumbers.”
Sharing some challenges in selling its produce, Mr Pechi-Anim explained that potential customers misinterpreted their farm as a GMO producer and were hesitant to patronise it. Due to cultural and other informational gaps, GMOs are still not accepted in northern
Ghana and not promoted by the government of Ghana. However, public sensitisation at the individual level helped to integrate the market while recording a higher sale to expatriates who visit the region or farm.
Field Coordinator for DecLaRe Project in Busunu, Dr. Deogratias Kofi Agbotui, showed the team the DecLaRe weather station positioned in Sadevco Ltd for its research. The device comprises a rain gauge and a temperature and light intensity gauge. He explained that the device helps in prediction modelling, and the data is shared with SADEVCO Ltd.
Dr. Deogratias Kofi Agbotui, Field Coordinator, DECLARE Project (right) and Mr Pechi-Anim, Manager of the SADEVCO Farm at Busunu in the Savanna Region of Ghana
The team continued to Yussif Bofoji Tanko’s farm, testing the micro-dosing interventions promoted by the DecLaRe Project. Mr. Tanko cultivates maise, ground nuts, cashews, bambara beans and rarely cassava. Recounting the importance of the intervention, he explained that the crops yielded better than those not under the experiment. Since this is his first year and he just harvested, he has yet to provide actual figures of yield difference. He lamented the cattle invasion on their farms and irregular rainfall pattern on the maise production, stating that “this year the rains were too much, which destroyed crops, and we also didn’t apply fertiliser”.
Later, the team visited another farmer, Ms. Zainab, who resides in Busunu. As a female farmer, she got her land from a share of her husband’s land solely for agriculture. She confirmed earlier submissions at the workshop that women face many challenges when farming. Her husband allocated six acres of land, which she used: “three acres for corn and three acres for okra. “I had four bags of maise and a bag of okra, and I am happy about the outcome of my harvest. This year, I’m done and waiting for the next planting season, whether I will get land or not.”
Second Two-Day Workshop on COINS and DECLARE Innovations
The second phase of the workshop was held on 22nd and 23rd November at UDS Tamale Campus to assess and forecast the economic, social and environmental impact of innovations by COINS and DECLARE in the Northern and Savannah Regions of Ghana.
Employing the ‘Decision Analysis Approach’, Dorcas Sanginga Alame, a PhD candidate pursuing Horticultural Science at the University of Bonn, says participant feedback helps to “forecast the impact of specific innovations of the regional project which INTERFACES is targeting in Northern Ghana”.
Miss Alame explained that the COINS project focuses on developing “sustainable intensification [solutions] by increasing productivity without taking up new lands” and works with Integrated Soil Fertility Management as one of the suggested innovations. The DECLARE project harbours two innovations, thus ‘micro-dosing to “increase productivity”.
For effective participation, participants first exchanged their ideas with their table neighbours, where men and women were grouped separately, and then experiences and ideas were consolidated. The women’s and men’s perspectives complemented each other. The discussions reviewed the benefits, costs, risks/barriers, challenges, and enabling factors for the selected innovations.
Perceived benefits of the COINS Integrated Soil Fertility Management
Among the list of its benefits labelled were increased crop yield, food security, improved income, economic empowerment, low cost of production, high income, high and sustainable productivity, marketability of products, etc.
An officer at the Northern Regional Women in Agricultural Development Directorate, Salatu Abubakar, reiterating the impact of one farming season in the North, posited that when a woman can reduce the cost of production coupled with an increase in yield then “as a woman with a small parcel of land you can get more income and you can leverage on other levels of income generation activities”.
An officer at the Northern Regional Department of Gender, Ms Bushira, highlighted the role of women in the agricultural value chain; hence, an increase in yield will mean that women who don’t farm “will like to take those yields to do processing so, in that case, it is also creating jobs for them, and they are also being economically empowered together with those who will market those products.”
Additionally, it was discussed that increased yield doesn’t necessarily translate to higher income, citing the paradox of bumper harvest where “everyone harvests and the price comes down at the end of the day you might not get higher income”.
Dr Theodore Asimeng, Senior Researcher at the German Institute for Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and the INTERFACES Project facilitating a session on ISFM during the workshop
Hence, other factors, such as price regulation and improved road networks, amongst others, should be considered. In the workshop, intense, longer discussions and exchanges followed on associated costs, risks and enabling factors. Again, the problem of access to land and the challenges women face in agriculture in adopting new practices emerged. One key aspect related to cultural norms and practices that disadvantage and marginalise women in agriculture, in addition to gender-based violence as a means to control women and their farm activities.
The Microdosing Approach of the DECLARE Project
The general concept of microdosing is to reduce the application of fertilisers by exactly placing fertiliser close to the plants. While some microdosing variants propose applying wall fertilisation in that form, the DECLARE variant only applies a microdose at the beginning of the season to young plants to give them a good start. While recognising the importance of the micro-dosing intervention, the workshop participants called for the intervention to be contextualised within the current farming systems and practices of farmers in the project communities, which is essential to aid in acceptance and adoption.
Conclusion
Stakeholders underscored the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to achieving food security, maintaining ecological integrity, ensuring equitable access to resources and productive lands, and implementing effective conflict resolution mechanisms. While pointing out many benefits of agricultural innovations, the many challenges attached to successfully implementing innovations and achieving higher yields, especially under climate change, became very clear.
Among the propositions for enabling mechanisms were, for example, demonstration plots/training platforms, farmer-to-farmer exchange, availability and timeliness of inputs, bridging finance solutions, sustainable prices and more conducive policies. The recommendations included formulating a comprehensive land-use plan, formalising land tenancy, implementing a land titling system that ensures access to land for women and other marginalised groups, and rigorously enforcing laws and policies. Further suggestions were to work with traditional authorities to change local norms and support activities like introducing the Gender Model Family (GMF) concept, a training programme developed to involve community members and families to live equitably and justly.
These measures, they believed, would create a conducive environment for sustainable land management and address some of the underlying challenges hindering progress in this crucial sector.
Group Picture of stakeholders during the second meeting
About the INTERFACES and the Four Regional Projects
Experts from 18 African countries on Wednesday, December 6th 2023, opened a two-day meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to discuss innovative measures that can enhance aflatoxin control in the continent’s food systems.
H.E Amb. Josefa Sacko, the commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment of the African Union Commission (AUC), said that aflatoxin presents an existential threat to food security in the continent.
H.E Amb. Josefa Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment.
“African populations are most at risk to chronic aflatoxin exposure because of our heavy reliance on grain-based diets and aflatoxin-prone crops such as maize and groundnuts,” Sacko said in a speech read on her behalf by Afeikhena Jerome, special adviser to the AUC commissioner.
Aflatoxins are highly toxic compounds that contaminate a wide range of staple foods in Africa, worsening hunger, and leading to malnutrition and a public health crisis.
Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), said that staple foods such as cereals are at high risk of exposure to aflatoxin, amid unhygienic post-harvest storage.
Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director, FARA
Dr. Agumya said that FARA is ready to engage more actively in the continent’s agenda to control aflatoxins and take a role in the implementation of the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) agenda over the next decade.
Hon. Mithika Linturi, Kenya’s cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, stressed that scientific data should guide action on aflatoxin control at a continental level.
Hon. Franklin Mithika Linturi, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Kenya
Hon. Linturi said that Kenya has created an enabling policy and regulatory environment to boost aflatoxin control and shield consumers of cereals from health risks.
Dr. Amare Ayalew, the program manager of PACA, said that the AU is scaling the number of pilot countries where aflatoxin control measures will be implemented, adding that awareness creation is key to minimizing risks to consumers.
The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soil (VACS) is the latest wave in the development thought for Africa’s agriculture, food, and nutrition security. The brain behind VACS is Dr. Carry Fowler, the US special envoy for global food security. Since the beginning of his thoughts, he has aligned it with the thoughts and actions of the Africa Union Commission (AU) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The VACS has also drawn inputs from several other organizations such as the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the CGIAR, AGRA, the Rockefeller Foundation, universities in the US and Africa, and ancillary organizations.
The objectives of VACS are to foster sustainable and resilient food systems in Africa and other parts of the world. VACS seeks to boost agricultural productivity and nutrition by developing diverse, climate-resilient crop varieties and building healthy soils.
Fulfilling this vision will certainly require identifying indigenous or adapted food crop commodities with highly competitive nutrient content and the capacity to adapt to the known and projected vagaries of climate change as well as having the potential to contribute to the desired food systems transformation in Africa. In the Phase 1 Technical Workshop to operationalize VACS held in Rome in May 2023, the need for data and evidence for the selection of crops was highlighted as well as having robust evidence for consumption patterns for food made from the commodities. The first workshop commissioned a series of studies including smart modeling to inform the choice of commodities with the required potential.
FARA participated in the second convening of the VACS organized by the Rockefeller Foundation in its exquisite Global Headquarters at 420 Fifth Avenue on 38th Street New York. The Phase 2 workshop was held on the 28th and 29th of November 2023 and had more than 71 high-level researchers and thought leaders in agricultural subjects especially, plant breeding, modeling, climate change, agronomy, and policies. The presentation of outcomes of the studies and interaction pointed to the following commodities as potential crops for intervention Table 1. Apparently, these commodities are selected based on available data, but the modelers still complain about insufficiency of data.
The FARA one cent idea is not to equate humans to figures in data, apparently most great opportunity crops lack research and data in key global repository, as such they will not feature prominently. The selected commodities need to be subjected to more qualitative methods like the “Participatory Prospective analysis” often used in Foresight studies. The bottom line is to provide the Africa stakeholders, especially the non-research actors viz., farmers, youths, women, and private sector actors the opportunity to have a say in this vital selection of commodities that will affect their food and nutritional security. Doing this will be the truest way to give all the needed sense of ownership, co-creation, and co-delivery of the VACS vision. On another note, some of the commodities that comes prominent in the list have had a significant research investment and promoted widely; the likes of Sweet Potato etc, have shown their potentials and are already widely used. The investment on such commodities could target the development of new food products and publicity on their nutritional values. All the commodities also needs to be screened for ease of crop improvement through breeding and the possibility of having a good seed systems. The commodities that are propagated using vegetative methods are often tricky in this sense, for instance genetic improvement of the Banana and Plantain are limited due to the ploidy issues that makes cross pollination difficult and having a hybrid almost impossible except with the new technologies in plant breeding.
VACS Event Session at the Rockefeller Foundation Headquarters, USA
Prof. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda (CGIAR System Board Chair) addressing the VACS session at the Rockefeller Foundation Headquarters, USA
The VACS is a vision accompanied by action and should be domesticated on the continent and at the country level. The research efforts should engage actively with the African regional agricultural research coordination architecture and the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) for implementation. VACS needs to avoid the old error of solely delegating African agricultural research to the International agricultural research centers in the name of the erroneous lack of capacity of the NARS. The international center should complement the NARS and not the other way around. Mainstreaming the VACS implementation into the recently developed framework for cooperation between the Africa Agricultural Research and Innovation Institutions (ARII) and the one-CGIAR will be a great way to go.
It is believed that the starting point of VACS is the mainstreaming of the opportunity crops; this will embrace the development of breeding programs and seed systems. It will also include research and development efforts to create new food products to drive a commercial demand for the commodities and research outputs. The next in line should be a set of systematic actions on soil management; this should be built on the existing continental framework in Africa. The Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) is the long-term framework, its 10-year implementation is structured into the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP). The core element should include halting land and soil degradation, promoting soil health, developing an Africa soil information system to drive the sustainable use of Africa soils as a vital production asset. These efforts will align together to ensure concurrent adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
In conclusion, VACS is the new wave and keeping it strong to deliver its intended outcome will relies on effective engagement, right investment and giving attention to the right and practical issues.
Prof. Wole Fatunbi (Ag. Director of Research, FARA) at the VACS Event organized by the Rockefeller Foundation
One case of salt losing its sweetness in nature is in the salinization of the soil, a growing concern in Africa. This is becoming a reality in Africa where the proportion of soil with high salt content is gradually approaching a critical threshold that requires considerable effort. Africa is reported to possess 60% of the remaining arable land globally. Arable land implies a land lot with complementary properties suitable for crop cultivation and livestock rearing. A key property of any arable land is healthy soil, containing adequate levels of essential crop nutrients, water, air, and a thriving microbial population essential for crop production. The core determinant of soil functionality lies in its nutrient-water balance, which controls the availability of nutrients in the soil water for the use of the plant. There are instances where nutrients exist in the soil but are unavailable for plant use; in scientific terms, these elements may be immobilized in the soil colloids due to the presence of higher concentrations of other nutrients.
Salinized plot of soil
A primary catalyst for nutrient immobilization is “salinization”: it is defined as a condition where the salt concentration in the soil water surpasses a critical threshold, preventing crop productivity, environmental health, and economic welfare. According to a 2014 report from the United Nations University, more than 5,000 Acres of land are lost globally each day due to soil salinization. Similarly, FAO reported that 11% of the arable land in Africa is affected by varying degrees of salinization (FAO,2019). The consequences of salinization is reported to include loss of vegetation, structural instability, erosion, and contamination of groundwater.
The cause of salinization includes irrigation with water from sources with a high content of salts, especially sodium. Misuse of fertilizers, poor drainage, loss of vegetation cover, deforestation, improper tillage practices, and overexploitation of land. The bottom line for the control of salinization is having an appropriate knowledge of the soil ecosystem and the best practices for its sustainable use. Overexploitation of the tropical soil found in Africa is a key cause of degradation; while this soil has an intrinsic disadvantage of the predominance of low-activity clay minerals, its use should be managed to ensure continued support for crop growth and other ecological services. The application of organic materials to increase the colloidal properties of the soil is essential to ensure the functionality of the soil system, including the optimization of the fertilizer applied for crop growth.
The continental efforts for managing the African soil is packaged in the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA), the SIA is the African Union initiative developed to ensure sustainable management of the soil to achieve sustainable agricultural intensification and optimization of the ecological services from the soil. The implementation of the SIA is facilitated through the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP), a ten-year plan to coordinate actions at different governmental levels.
A farmer in Northern Ghana demonstrating how he has practiced Integrated Soil Fertility Management and consistently improved yield over the past 10 years
The SIA and the AFSH-AP will be launched at the upcoming Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit, slated for next year 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya.
In commemoration of the 2023 World Soil Day, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and its partner organizations advocate for a cautious use of African soil to ensure sustainable production of food and fiber, productivity of the agrarian livelihood, ensuring food, and nutritional security, and continental prosperity.
The cause of salinization includes irrigation with water from sources with a high content of salts, especially sodium. Misuse of fertilizers, poor drainage, loss of vegetation cover, deforestation, improper tillage practices, and overexploitation of land. The bottom line for the control of salinization is having an appropriate knowledge of the soil ecosystem and the best practices for its sustainable use. Overexploitation of the tropical soil found in Africa is a key cause of degradation; while this soil has an intrinsic disadvantage of the predominance of low-activity clay minerals, its use should be managed to ensure continued support for crop growth and other ecological services. The application of organic materials to increase the colloidal properties of the soil is essential to ensure the functionality of the soil system, including the optimization of the fertilizer applied for crop growth.