no ordinary matter: conserving, restoring & enhancing africa's soils: dg agri, european...
TRANSCRIPT
No Ordinary Matter
European Commission
Brussels January 30, 2015
Sir Gordon Conway Director of Agriculture for Impact
[email protected] 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
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Tel: +44 (0) 207 594 9337 Twitter:@Ag4Impact
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