Farmers in Africa say their soil is dying and chemical fertilizers are partly to blame

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — When Benson Wanjala started farming in his village in western Kenya two and a half decades ago, his 10-acre farm could produce a bumper harvest of 200 bags of maize. That number has dwindled to 30. He says his once fertile soil has become an almost lifeless field that no longer provides sustenance.

Like many other farmers, he blames acidifying fertilizers introduced in Kenya and other African countries in recent years. He said he started using fertilizers to increase his production and it worked – until it didn’t. The Kenyan government first introduced a fertilizer subsidy in 2008, making chemical fertilizers more accessible to smallholder farmers.

About 63% of arable land in Kenya is now acidic, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, which has seen a decline in the production of staples such as maize and leading exports of horticulture and tea. Corn production declined 4% to 44 million tons in 2022, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, which did not say why.

The Ministry of Agriculture did not respond to questions, especially after the fake fertilizer scandal in April. The fertilizer turned out to be quarry soil in bags with misleading labels that were distributed to farmers through a national subsidy program. President William Ruto said around 7,000 farmers bought the fake fertilizer and would be compensated with the correct product.

Soil health problems are increasing as the African continent struggles to feed itself. Africa owns 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land, but spends about $60 billion annually to import food, according to the African Development Bank. Spending is estimated to increase to US$110 billion by 2025 due to increased demand and changing consumer habits.

In May, Kenya hosted a summit on soil health in Africa to discuss declining production, climate change and other issues that have raised food security concerns. Agriculture is a key part of Kenya’s economy, accounting for more than a quarter of GDP.

At the summit, Stephen Muchiri, executive director of the East African Farmers Federation, advocated a return to traditional farming practices to replenish dead soils, including planting a variety of crops and doing as little as possible to disturb the land.

“Inorganic fertilizers were never intended to be the basis of agricultural production,” he said, later adding that due to “commercially-inclined agriculture, our soils are now poor, acidic, low in biomass resources, and lifeless!”

He said farmers should rotate crops on their land and obtain compost material from livestock such as goats: “There must be some kind of transition and adaptation for our soils to return to fertility.”

Experts say soil acidity causes land degradation by decreasing the availability of essential plants and nutrients, making soil more vulnerable to declining structure and erosion.

Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa program coordinator Bridget Mugambe advised the phase-out of chemical fertilizers.

“Soil health goes beyond the quick fixes provided by chemical fertilizers. In fact, chemical fertilizers have extensively damaged our soils in Africa. We need to think about our soils in a more holistic way,” she said.

The African Union’s soil health summit – which in 2006 recommended that members use more chemical fertilizers – adopted a 10-year plan that calls for increased investment to produce organic and chemical fertilizers locally and triple their use to increase production.

During the summit, the AU commissioner for agriculture, Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, stated that the continent was “losing more than US$4 billion in soil nutrients every year”.

Kenya relies heavily on imported fertilizers due to low local production. The main supplier is the European Union, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Kenya Africa Manager of the Alliance for a Green Revolution, John Macharia, said the recent fertilizer scandal in Kenya should not discourage farmers.

“It is still imperative that we work with the government to really ensure that we have the right fertilizers arriving in our stores,” Macharia said. He recommended both chemical and organic, as long as they address the specific soil problem, and said soil analysis would guide farmers.

Declining soil quality is a food security concern across Africa.

In Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, about 70% of the soils are acidic, according to the government. In the past, the government introduced chemical fertilizers in an attempt to strengthen soils, but misuse caused a decline in organic matter.

“Before the introduction of mineral fertilizers, our ancestors had the knowledge and understanding that if we add organic fertilizer, the soil becomes fertile and crops perform better,” said Wonder Ngezimana, associate professor of agricultural sciences. at the Zimbabwe Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology “This has been a traditional norm in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa, where people look for any type of organic matter to add to the soil.”

This includes animal manure, grass, leaves and twigs, crop residues, ash and compost. But many farmers in Zimbabwe no longer have livestock due to the recent drought, Ngezimana said: “Farmers are struggling to maintain soil health because they cannot generate sufficient amounts of organic matter.”

AGRA has recommended that farmers test the acidity of their soil and apply lime to reverse high acidity.

But farmers say both are limited and expensive. Soil analysis services are available from government agricultural agencies, public universities, and private organizations at prices ranging from $20 to $40.

Wanjala, the farmer, said he can’t even get money for cattle for manure, and barely for seeds.

“I can’t afford any more expenses,” he said.

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Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

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