NDLI: Facing food insecurity in Africa: Why, after 30 years of work in organic agriculture, I am promoting the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides in small-scale staple crop production

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Lotter, Don
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Food insecurity and the loss of soil nutrients and productive capacity in Africa are serious problems in light of the rapidly growing African population. In semi-arid central Tanzania currently practiced traditional crop production systems are no longer adaptive. Organic crop production methods alone, while having the capacity to enable food security, are not feasible for these small-scale farmers because of the extra land, skill, resources, and 5–7 years needed to benefit from them—particularly for maize. Maize, grown by 94 % of farmers, has substantial nitrogen needs. The most practical ways of satisfying maize nutrient needs is via integrated soil fertility management, a combination of organic and Green Revolution methods. Maize has been shown in research to outyield the indigenous crops millet and sorghum in nearly all situations including drought. Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Africa has two main categories—organic and herbicide-mediated. The organic version of CA, despite years of promotion, has had a low rate of adoption. Herbicide-mediated zero tillage CA via backpack sprayer can substantially increase conventional maize yields while at the same time nearly eliminating erosion and increasing rainwater capture up to fivefold. Glyphosate herbicide is a non-proprietary product produced in Africa and approved for small farm use. The systemic nature of glyphosate allows the killing of perennial grasses that would otherwise need deep plowing to kill. The rooted weed residues protect the soil from erosion. The risks of glyphosate use are substantially outweighed by the benefits of increased food security and crop system sustainability.
Starting Page	111
Ending Page	118
Page Count	8
File Format	PDF
ISSN	0889048X
Journal	Agriculture and Human Values
Volume Number	32
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	15728366
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2014-10-07
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Africa food security Africa agriculture Sustainable intensification Integrated soil fertility management Zero tillage Organic agriculture Ethics Agricultural Economics Veterinary Medicine History Evolutionary Biology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Agronomy and Crop Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Facing food insecurity in Africa: Why, after 30 years of work in organic agriculture, I am promoting the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides in small-scale staple crop production

Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation: Sustainable intensification of key farming systems in East and Southern Africa: Technical Report, 1 October 2021– 31 March 2022

Africa RISING: Promoting sustainable intensification in northern Ghana

Africa RISING: Making partnerships work for sustainable intensification

Africa RISING QUESTION 4: What did you like from the Africa RISING project? Why?

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation: Sustainable intensification of key farming systems in East and Southern Africa: Technical report, 1 April 2021 – 30 September 2021

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation: Sustainable intensification of key farming systems in East and Southern Africa: Technical Report, 1 October 2022 – 31 March 2023 (No Cost Extension Period)

Africa RISING in Ghana

Facing food insecurity in Africa: Why, after 30 years of work in organic agriculture, I am promoting the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides in small-scale staple crop production

Similar Documents

Facing food insecurity in Africa: Why, after 30 years of work in organic agriculture, I am promoting the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides in small-scale staple crop production

Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation: Sustainable intensification of key farming systems in East and Southern Africa: Technical Report, 1 October 2021– 31 March 2022

Africa RISING: Promoting sustainable intensification in northern Ghana

Africa RISING: Making partnerships work for sustainable intensification

Africa RISING QUESTION 4: What did you like from the Africa RISING project? Why?

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation: Sustainable intensification of key farming systems in East and Southern Africa: Technical report, 1 April 2021 – 30 September 2021

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation: Sustainable intensification of key farming systems in East and Southern Africa: Technical Report, 1 October 2022 – 31 March 2023 (No Cost Extension Period)

Africa RISING in Ghana

Facing food insecurity in Africa: Why, after 30 years of work in organic agriculture, I am promoting the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides in small-scale staple crop production