FOOD SECURITY LIES IN HEALTHY SOIL
Ninety-five percent of our food comes from the soil, giving the humble dirt beneath our feet a profound importance in human life, says Charmaine Koppehel.
In South Africa, an estimated 20% of 35 000 commercial farmers – that is 7 000 farmers – produce 80% of our total agricultural value. This is according to Prof Ben Cousins of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS).
“This is unsustainable both in terms of concentrating too much power in too few hands, as well as placing undue risk on the food system,” says Dr Scott Drimie, director of the Southern Africa Food Lab (SAFL).
Not only do these commercial farmers face political uncertainty, but the dangers of climate change will also place our water systems under severe pressure and compound soil erosion and land degradation.
“Adapting to climate change will be immensely challenging for our society,” Scott adds. “We need to be pursuing more sustainable systems.”
Currently, South Africa is experiencing its worst drought in decades, and it has impacted all summer crops on farms in Mpumalanga, North West and the Free State. Grain SA economist Wandile Sihlobo says harvests for soya beans, sunflower, maize and ground nuts have decreased by 29% year-on-year, and that of maize alone by 31%. The knock-on effects have already led to food price increases and will continue to do so.
Even more worrying are the ominous facts stated by the United Nations Environmental Programme regarding the thin skin of the Earth on which we depend: for every tonne of maize, wheat, sugar or other agricultural crop produced, South Africa loses an average of 20 tonnes of soil – annual soil loss is estimated at 300 to 400 million tonnes. And that’s for South Africa alone.
Ohio State University agronomist Rattan Lal estimates that soil erosion has reduced Africa’s grain harvest by 8 million tonnes, or roughly 8%. He projects this loss will double by 2020 if soil erosion is not reduced. So Africa is projected to lose, in effect, the capacity to feed 80 million people at African levels of consumption during a period when its population is projected to increase by 288 million.
It is clear that preserving our topsoil, the 5cm-to-20cm layer of organic matter and microorganisms that allows plants to grow, is vital to our future food security.
South Africa has roughly 2,3 million smallholder farmers, many of whom are already farming sustainably, being mindful of the ecosystem in which they farm, using the nutrient cycle and indigenous knowledge to their advantage, and consciously building the soil for future generations.
Although smallholder farmers are often not able to operate and provide at the scale of commercial farmers, their role in feeding the millions of South Africans who are already food-insecure is an important one, because many of these farmers feed their families, neighbours and villages first before they sell to a formal market.
“What I enjoy the most is working directly in the soil,” says Shadreck Mbiba, a smallholder organic farmer in Lanseria, Gauteng. “We want to be sustainable and guard against climate change with net covers and mulch to protect our crops, ensuring we reduce water consumption, use crop rotation and produce our own compost as an alternative to chemicals.”
Harvesting an impressive array of fruits, vegetables and nuts from his one hectare, Shadreck is already eyeing some neighbouring land for expansion. “Practice makes it possible to have all these vegetables,” he says. “It’s all about maximising each and every square metre.”
Shadreck is one of 17 smallholder farmers in Gauteng and Limpopo who supply the Bryanston Organic & Natural Market in Gauteng and form part of its Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). A PGS relies on transparency, trust, peer review and knowledge sharing, and supports and enhances the practices of organic agriculture. It provides an affordable alternative to expensive third-party certification for smallholder farmers, as a selection of people from that community go and inspect farms. This inspection team might include a local farmer, a retailer and a consumer.