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february 16, 2012
AFRICA UPDATE
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 70, No. 7
Fertilizer revolution close at hand? Nanotech and high-tech polymers could cut application rates in half
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Conservation gospel falls on fertile soil
Expensive fertilizers and seed are not an option for poor Ethiopian farmers, so aid agencies are turning to a combination of no-till and organic methods such as mulching
By Shannon Vanraes
Laura Rance has just returned from a two-week tour of Ethiopia with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
co-operator staff
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cientists believe they are on the verge of a breakthrough that could cut the amount of fertilizer farmers must use by as much as 50 per cent. Researchers have made significant progress in using microscopic technologies to slash nitrogen loss, Carlos Monreal, a federal government scientist working on the development of ferti-
By Laura Rance co-operator editor
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Zerihun Kora: pastor of a local Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church shows mulch in no-till organic plot. Yields have doubled. This form of conservation agriculture is known locally as “Farming God’s Way.” Photo: Laura Rance
row of derelict tractors on an abandoned state farm is a fitting reminder industrialized agriculture has a checkered future in this populous East African country. With their faded red paint, gutted engines and rotting tires gradually being swallowed by the prickly underbrush, these 1970s-vintage symbols of progressive agriculture represent a technology that is of little use for the majority of Ethiopian farmers, who use oxen and hoes on plots of two hectares or less. This is not to say modern technologies won’t play a role in Ethiopia’s drive to increase its agricultural output and grow its economy through an aggressive expansion. In fact, growing the agricultural sector is a key pillar in the government’s ambitious plan for achieving a “green economy” and achieving middle-class status for its 80 million people by 2025. (see story page 18). Nor does it mean that these impoverished farmers are stodgy traditionalists inherently suspicious of new
technology. Any such notion is erased by the skyrocketing number of cellphones in remote areas that lack even the basics of electricity and running water. It’s not uncommon to see drivers talking on their cellphones (no laws against that here) while manoeuvring donkey carts through traffic. Thanks to extra batteries and recharge stations in towns and villages, rural Ethiopians have simply bypassed the expensive infrastructure required for land-line telecommunications. But it is unlikely high-input agriculture will do much — at least directly — to help small landholders, or for the 10 to 20 per cent of the population that is chronically food insecure. Subsistence farmers growing maize, beans and sweet potatoes can’t afford motorized implements, fuel, fertilizer and repairs. While they may prove to be prudent investments if the rains come, they are a nothing but a lost gamble if drought returns. Even if they had the wherewithall to acquire more land, their access is limited. Holdings can be transferred from generation to generation, but cannot be bought, sold, or even legally leased, except through the government. See AFRICA on page 7 »
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