Small scale farmers need affordable and practical solutions to protect their soil

 

VIDEO: Farmers talk soil

by Stephanie Malyon

 

2015 is THE year that is putting soils on the global map. Everyone in the development and agriculture world is talking about it, not least the researchers, donors and experts currently gathered in Berlin for Global Soils Week (GSW).

But while those at the top search for solutions to this global crisis, they must ensure that the guardians of the majority of the world’s farmland – smallholder farmers – are included.

Today (21 April 2015) Senior Soil Scientist Rolf Sommer presented a new short film at GSW asking those present to ensure just that.

“Small scale farmers need affordable and practical solutions to protect their soil,” Sommer said. “We need to listen to farmers to find out what soil means to them, how they manage soil fertility and what information they rely on to do so. And we need to work with them so that we can develop appropriate and culturally specific technologies that they can – and, more importantly, will – incorporate into their farming practices.”

In the film, entitled Talking Soils – Farmers Voices, farmers from Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia share their views on soil, what they know and how they manage it. Perhaps the starkest observation is how knowledge and practices vary across the countries and even across communities.

Read the full article: CIAT Blog