No Ordinary Matter

European Commission

Brussels January 30, 2015

Sir Gordon Conway Director of Agriculture for Impact

gordon@ag4impact.org Tel: +44 (0) 207 594 9337

Twitter:@Ag4Impact Facebook: One Billion Hungry

Key messages

• Africa’s soils are highly diverse

• They are degrading rapidly

• There is a very high economic loss

• Donors and African governments have been neglecting them

• The answer lies in integrated soil management

• This includes climate smart soils

• Public funding is critical

Africa’s Soils are Highly Diverse

Africa’s Soils are Degrading Rapidly

For SSA land degradation hotspots affect 26% of the land area The economic loss is about $68 billion a year affecting 180 million people

Soil, a global priority?

• Current efforts to strengthen sustainable land management are insufficient for scale of the challenge.

• Conservation, restoration and enhancement must be elevated to top priorities on global and national agendas.

• In Africa, sustainable land management must become a cornerstone of CAADP investment plans.

• Donors should provide renewed and invigorated funding.

• and must work with the OECD to develop a clear and transparent process for monitoring aid to soil and land management.

Healthy Soils

A Healthy Soil is strong in Structure With an optimal mix of large and small particle sizes Providing good permeability and water holding capacity. It is highly fertile with rich humus and sufficient nutrients for high yields It is also rich in soil biota and contains no pollutants.

REPAIR, RESTORE, ENHANCE AND CARE

Sustainable Intensification

• Increased production, income, nutrition

• On the same amount, or less, of land and water

• With efficient and prudent use of inputs

• Minimising emissions of Greenhouse Gases

• While increasing natural capital and environmental services

• Strengthening resilience

• Reducing environmental impact

Multiple Approaches

• Agro-ecology

• Genetics

• Socio-economics

Integrated Soil Management

The Solution lies in combining the best of organic and conventional approaches in a way that is appropriately sustainable

Combining Conservation Agriculture with Microdosing

Microdosing

Conservation Agriculture

Microdosing Water

Drip Irrigation

More than 5% reduction in length of

growing period

Average Annual Max Temp > 300C

Source: Ericksen et al Mapping hotspots of climate change and food insecurity in the global tropics

Climate Smart Soil

CLIMATE SMART SOIL HELPS AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS BECOME BETTER ADAPTED AND RESILIENT TO THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, WHILE MINIMISING THE

EMISSIONS OF GHGS AND RESTORING THE LOST CARBON IN THE SOIL

Adaptation

• Reducing the impact of high temperatures

– Eg by Mulching

• Conserving moisture

– Eg Terracing and zai pits

Chaperone Genes for Drought Tolerance

• Genes from Bacterial RNA that help to repair misfolded proteins resulting from stress

• Plants rapidly recover

• No yield penalty when stress free

• In field trials

Mitigation

Mitigation

• Green House Gases from soils

– Nitrous Oxide, Methane, Carbon dioxide

• Fertiliser Deep Placement

Urea super granules

Carbon Sequestration

• Key is Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)

• SOC lost due to agricultural practices

• Can be put back

– Conservation

farming

– Agroforestry

Provide incentives for embracing ISM

• Despite the considerable potential gains, the uptake of ISM in Africa remains low

• Factors influencing farmers’ decisions to forgo better land management practices: – tenuous land security,

– limited access to markets and financial resources

– obvious costs, but uncertain returns

• The public sector needs to provide incentives and better information for farmers to embrace ISM and to invest in soils and sustainable land management

Recommendations

1. Strengthen political support for sustainable land management

2. Increase financial support for investment in soil and land management

3. Improve transparency for land and soil management

4. Attribute a value to land degradation

5. Start a ‘Big Data’ Revolution on soils

6. Create incentives, especially secure land rights

7. Build on existing knowledge and resources

8. Build soil science capacity in Africa

9. Embrace integrated soil management

10. Foster climate smart soil research and application

For more info on Ag4Impact go to: www.ag4impact.org

Contact: gordon@ag4impact.org

Tel: +44 (0) 207 594 9337 Twitter:@Ag4Impact

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