Ghana Soil Health Consortium to improve agric productivity

A Ghana Soil Health Consortium has been constituted to improve agricultural productivity in the country.

The goal of the consortium is to facilitate a wider update of better adapted integrated soil fertility management practices with visible positive impacts on rural livelihoods.

It was instituted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Ghana’s Soil Research Institute (SRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

“The African continent is facing a soil health crisis,” observed Dr. Marie Rarieya, AGRA’s Program Officer for Soil Health Program. “This challenge suggests urgency in rethinking and reshaping the way agricultural development within sub-Saharan Africa, and Ghana specifically, is realized.”

 

Rural communities, especially smallholder farmers, depend on the soils for their livelihoods. The health of the soils therefore determines the level of agricultural productivity.

Scientists estimate the world now loses about 75 billion tons of topsoil a year as it tries to feed itself.

“Such losses are not sustainable and must cease if we are to mitigate serious risk to food security. We need to share the keys to successful soils management at a much faster rate, in order to contribute to food security into the future,” noted Dr. Zoumana Bamba of the IITA’s Capacity Development Office.

The Ghana Soil Health Consortium will bring together stakeholders along the agricultural value chain to synthesize and disseminate knowledge on integrated soil fertility management generated by research institutions.

Chairman of the Consortium’s steering committee, Prof. S.G.K. Adiku, has proposed the establishment of a Soil Care Policy “with specific guides to developing appropriate management practices tailored to meet the different soils and their management demands”.

The Policy, he added, must also develop guides to reward farmers who adopt and practice soil health programs.

Ghana’s 24,000km² total land area has 30-40% of arable – a per capita arable land of approximately 0.5 hectares is what should produce all the maize, legumes, fruits and other food requirements for a person.

This demands high levels of soil productivity, but the soils lose their productivity within a period of four years of continues cultivation, due to poor land management such as bush burning, crop residue removal and excessive tillage.

“Everyday, we have to put food on the table; it means that plants are continuously mining the soils but the question is how much are we putting back? The focus of the consortium is to look at how we can manage our soils well to sustain lives, not only for now but for the future,” stated Dr. Marie Rarieya.

AGRA’s Soil Health Program is supporting the implementation of country level soil health consortia to enhance dissemination of soil fertility technologies across 13 countries in Africa.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh