Nigeria has launched a "Soil Doctor" programme after decades of declining soil health and mounting malnutrition

Nigeria Has Launched A "Soil Doctor" Programme After Decades Of Declining Soil Health And Mounting Malnutrition

Africa’s most populous country has launched a long-overdue national program for its millions of small-scale family farmers: a soil test kit linked to the digital cloud. The program by the government of Nigeria follows decades of declining soil health and mounting malnutrition.

Known as “Soil Doctor”, the test will enable farmers to quickly analyze the nutrient content of their soil. This information in turn, will allow them to determine which fertilizers to use and in what amounts. The goal: to improve food production by getting the most out of the soil.

The program is meant to address a problem that is widespread not only in Nigeria but also across sub-Saharan Africa where some 65 percent of the region’s soils are degraded. Extensive land degradation is now a major driver of hunger and food insecurity, for depleted soils can neither support high yields nor grow nutrient-rich crops.

In Nigeria, half the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, predisposing them to chronic hunger. And hunger is most acute in rural areas, where about 90 percent of the population relies on farming for their livelihoods.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of healthy soils. Unseen to the naked eye, healthy soils improve the activity of soil microbes, which in turn help plants utilize nutrients; cope with water stress; and combat crop diseases and pests. For Africa to sustainably feed its growing population, many governments must emulate Nigeria’s example and take action to restore soil health.

It is often a matter of reversing the damage done by “soil mining.” In many parts of Africa, poor soils are the result of repeated farming of the same land without replenishing the soil’s nutrients. Crops consume upwards of 45 kilograms of nutrients and minerals from each hectare of land every season.

When farmers cannot afford to replace the soil nutrients taken up by their crops, the soil is literally mined of life. In addition, factors such as deforestation, irrigation and soil salinization, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers, and overgrazing contribute to soil degradation.

This article is written by Esther Ngumbi is a post-doctoral research fellow at Auburn University in Alabama, and a 2015 Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.