soil problems in africa

 

Soil in Africa is being damaged at a rate that may plunge them into chaos, due to farming and climate change, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

“The situation is very severe and soil fertility is declining rapidly,” Jeroen Huising, a scientist who studies soils at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, or CIAT, said today in an interview. “Many countries like Kenya already don’t have enough food to feed their population and soil degradation is worsening an already critical situation.”

In a place where one in three people are ‘chronically’ hungry, any more damage to the weakened agriculture will be deadly.

As a result, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding a project, the African Soil Information Service will use mapping techniques and geographical information systems to help farmers and government officials choose the best options to improve agricultural land and slow the degradation of farmland.  The project will also address climate change issues.

As a result of the already depleted food supply, civil unrest has started.  Food supply workers and food aid convoys have been attacked and people have been killed.  This is why many feel there is an immediate need to fix this problem before it is irreparable.