Organic Farming a Worthwhile Challenge

It is very difficult to establish organic farming in Africa, although it offers many advantages over conventional cultivation. A key challenge is to generate sufficient biomass for organic soil management in semi arid areas. Specific action to support the enhancement of degraded soils is needed.

To safeguard its own viability and feed the continent’s growing population, Africa’s smallholder agriculture needs much higher yields per hectare. At the same time, it must become more resilient to climate change and manage the natural resources more sustainable.

To date, conventional farm inputs such as high-yielding seed, mineral fertilisers and pesticides are not sufficiently made available to African smallholders, and all to often, they cannot afford what is on offer. Input use, moreover, involves inherent economic, environmental and health risks due to price volatility, climate impacts and lack of know-how. Accordingly, more domestically produced, organic fertilisers – such as manure, compost, mulch or cover crops – must be used.

http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/despite-obstacles-organic-farming-makes-more-sense-sub-saharan-africa-conventional

Stephanie Vacher

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