Urgent action needed to protect Malawi’s soil

A  recent Mwapata Institute study has revealed alarming trends in soil erosion, with Malawi losing an estimated 30 tonnes of topsoil per hectare each year.

The independent agricultural policy think tank study, titled Malawi Position Paper and Action Plan on Fertiliser and Soil Health, states that the findings represent an increase from 26 tonnes per hectare reported between 2010 and 2017 and 29 tonnes per hectare reported in 2014.

Presenting the study findings in Lilongwe on Tuesday Mwapata Institute board chairperson Richard Mkandawire described the development as a “matter of emergency”, further calling for a shift from over-reliance on inorganic fertilisers as a solution to the problem.

He said: “High dependence on chemical fertilisers without following complementary good soil health management practices results in soil degradation, environmental pollution, and climate change.

“This is a matter of emergency. We cannot allow tones of our soil nutrients going into Lake Malawi and then the Indian Ocean. Effectively you can say that the Malawian soils are actually tired and they need to be replenished.”

To do that, Mkandawire said there is need to pay attention to smallholder farmers on how to incentivise them to improve the status of their soil health.

“We can use some of the resources that go to the Affordable Input Programme for smallholder farmers to improve their soils because we are losing millions of dollars by allowing the soils to be eroded into the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Among others, the study highlights that soil erosion results in substantial nutrient loss, including over 108 grammes per hectare (g/ha) of Nitrogen, 350 g/ha of available phosphorus, and 16.6 g/ha of exchangeable Potassium annually.

These losses equate to a three percent reduction in a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of NPK fertiliser per hectare yearly or an equivalent of 2000 metric tonnes (MT) of NPK fertiliSer, valued at K2.5 billion, cumulatively across agricultural land.

Ministry of Agriculture Director of Planning Rodwell Mzondi highlighted efforts by the ministry through the Land Resource Conservation Department which is encouraging farmers to conserve their land and manage their catchment areas to reverse the trend.

“We also need to capacitate our extension services so that they communicate with the farmers in the language they understand.

“We will also speak to the treasury to look at extension service and research as one of our priority areas and provide enough budgetary support for us to be able to implement the recommendations in the paper,” he said.

The agricultural sector plays a pivotal role in Malawi’s economy, contributing 23 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employing over 64 percent of the rural population, and accounting for more than 80 percent of total export earnings.

The institute has not yet quantified on how much the country is losing in production due to soil erosion, but it is working on conducting research on the topic.