Soil fertility info boost for farming in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has continually attempted to shake its association with widespread hunger and poverty. In 2003, 15 million people in the country were estimated to be food insecure. This year, once again, widespread drought induced by the strongest El Niño on record has forced 10.2 million people to rely on food aid.

But a quiet transformation has been taking place in recent years that has allowed Ethiopia to contain the effects of this drought to a greater extent than before. Despite the harsh setbacks of recent months, Ethiopia is still on track to become a middle-income country in the next ten years. One of the biggest and most ambitious land-related projects to date has focused on the degraded soils that have historically inhibited successful food production.

For crops to grow, they need access to 14 specific nutrients from the soil; yet in Sub-Saharan Africa, 65 per cent of soils are considered to be degraded and lacking in these vital nutrients. Ethiopia spans 1.1 million square kilometres, covered with widely different agro-ecologies. This means we have a broad variety of soil types, which have their own nutrient compositions and management needs.

In the same way that all illnesses cannot be treated with the same medicine, Ethiopia’s diverse soils need unique combinations of nutrients. That is why in 2012, the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and related stakeholders began the Ethiopian Soil Information System (EthioSIS) project.

A first-of-its-kind initiative in Africa, EthioSIS uses remote sensing satellite technology and extensive soil sampling to provide high-resolution soil fertility mapping. Grid-based soil sampling and data collection was done across the country, followed by intensive soil sampling from all arable land, to discover which soil fertility and health conditions were limiting crop productivity.

With the diagnostic work near completion, we also needed to ensure the cure was available to farmers. Much still needs to be done to educate Ethiopia’s 13 million smallholders on how to use the right fertiliser and complimentary crop and soil specific technologies. Tens of thousands of new fertiliser demonstrations have been conducted by engaging model farmers and at farmer training centres and field days.

Radio communications, leaflets and extension guidelines in local languages are also being disseminated. These have helped to get farmers' buy-in of the new fertilisers, the benefits of which (as compared to previous types) have been quickly evident to users.

Early results have shown that these new blends, or other imported compound fertilisers, improve crop yields by up to 65 percent when used in tandem with recommended improved crop and soil management practices.

The new fertilisers cannot, of course, be considered a one-stop solution farmers must continue to use improved crop varieties, remove weeds, and employ complementary soil management techniques, such as applying lime to acid soils and using compost to enrich the soil organic pool.

By Tekalign Mamo