The solution to declining natural resources
and food security
Article by Dr Hendrik Smith
CA Facilitator, GRAIN SA
Each year, 12 million hectares of land in the world, where 20 million tonnes of
grain could have been grown, are lost to land degradation. In the past 40
years, 30 percent of the planet’s arable (food-producing) land has become unproductive due to erosion. Unless this trend is reversed soon, feeding the
world’s growing population will be impossible.
W
orldwide there is
consensus
that
plough-based farming,
still
widely
practised, has unsustainable elements, whose continued promotion
and application endangers global
capacities to respond to the food
security concerns. Ploughing and
removal of crop residues after harvest leave soil naked and vulnerable
to wind and rain, resulting in gradual, often unnoticed erosion of soil.
This is like tire wear on your car —
unless given the attention and respect it deserves, catastrophe is only a matter of time. Erosion also
puts carbon into the air where it
contributes to climate change.
In South Africa, crop production
systems based on intensive and
No-till planters planting directly into
maize residue.
Photo: Hannes Otto
continuous soil tillage have led to
excessively high soil degradation
rates in grain producing areas. This
adds to the growing problems with
profitability and poverty in some of
the rural areas. According to a recent study by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in South Africa, the average soil loss under annual crops (such as grain and cotton) in the country is 13 ton ha -1yr-1,
which is much higher than the natural soil formation rate. If we have
to offer farmers a better chance to
survive on the farm and if sustainable and economically viable agriculture and food security is to be
achieved, then the paradigms of
agriculture production and management must be changed.
There is general agreement among
Sustainable CA cropping systems for smallholders.
Photo: Hendrik Smith
key role players, such as government, research institutions and producer’s organisations (such as Grain
SA), that these outcomes will be
achieved through the adoption and
implementation of Conservation
Agriculture (CA). CA is seen as an
ideal system for sustainable and
climate-smart agricultural intensification, through which farmers can
attain higher levels of productivity
and profitability (i.e. ‘green prosperity’) while improving soil health and
the environment.
Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an
approach to managing agroecosystems for improved and sustained productivity, increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource
base and the environment.
Oxen-drawn no-till planter for smallholders.
Photo: Hendrik Smith