OPINION: Investing in soil health key to closing the yield gaps
Even without climate change, there is an enormous challenge to meet the growing demand for food with the current status of soil health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Even without climate change, there is an enormous challenge to meet the growing demand for food with the current status of soil health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Success in rejuvenating land through forest-based enterprises has had dramatic outcomes for farmers. In the late afternoon in the highlands of Malawi, the air is chilly as the sun descends. But the welcome is warm. A group of...
Delegates at Global Soil Week 2019 push for effective land governance, local governance structures, extension services, and finance and markets to ensure sustainable and climate resilient agriculture.
By Dorcas Sanginga Regreening Africa’s Land Degradation Dynamics component, spearheaded by Leigh Winowiecki, soil systems scientist, and Tor-Gunnar Vågen, geoinformatics senior scientist, recently conducted Field Training and Field Survey: Biophysical Soil and Land Health Assessment using the Land...
Healthy soil is critical for productive agriculture in Africa. To address declining health, countries are sharing knowledge and learning about new technologies.
The endorsement of the Guidelines by the region’s ministers of agriculture and forestry paves the way for implementation to restore degraded landscapes, improve food security and livelihoods, enhance farmers’ resilience and meet nationally determined contributions to...
Zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF) is reported to be followed by 8% of farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, making it probably the world’s most successful natural farming approach. “Adoption rates elsewhere of nature-friendly agriculture rarely exceed 1%,” says...
“There is an urgent need in northern Ghana for metro, municipal and district assemblies, NGOs and civil society organizations to act immediately to address issues such as land tenure, bush fires, indiscriminate tree cutting, and a lack of...
In the last five years ICRAF has helped establish comprehensive soil information systems in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria. Malawi is determined to be next. Africa has over 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land but remains a...
Scientists must remember that farmers are focused on the best return from their inputs with little risk as possible. Dominic Chavez/World Bank/Flickr Soil is a vital part of the natural environment. It supports the growth of plants, is...
Smallholders clear forests on peat swamps for their farms, emitting considerable amounts of greenhouse gases. But how much? Scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre went for a walk to find out. Walking on Indonesian peat that has...
Food assistance needs in 2017 are unprecedented, say FEWS-Net, an early warning system pioneered by the US government. Famine threatens South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen. Ethiopia is also included within the top 5 areas of highest concern....
Approximately 70% of Africa’s population depends on its agriculture-based economy for their livelihoods, underscoring the importance of soil to the sector. Fertile soils across the continent are under threat, however, due in large part to climate change and...
Trees in, and around, rice fields help farmers’ become more resilient to climate change, improve their incomes and protect the environment. A new practical manual helps guide farmers in Southeast Asia, the rice bowl of the world....