Natural alternatives to fertiliser also helping farmers weather the shortage caused by the war in Ukraine
Muiru — In the past few years, James Mugambi’s farm in central Kenya became a battlefield, with the farmer constantly fighting to save his crops from erratic rains, drought, pests and disease.
"It is not much, but it helps in reducing the risk of losses,” said Mugambi, who grows coffee, maize, beans and other fruit and vegetables on his 0.8-hectare farm in Muiru village. A growing number are moving to agro-ecology, using natural methods — such as swapping synthetic fertiliser for manure — to increase yields, cut carbon emissions and recycle resources, Ababio said.
In March, Kenya’s agriculture ministry launched a four-year climate-smart agriculture plan, which includes shaping local policies to deal with climate change and building a database of tried-and-tested farming techniques to bolster the industry’s resilience.Farmers around Kenya have been discovering that the nature-based techniques they are using to adapt to the pressures of climate change could also help them weather the fertiliser shortage caused by the war in Ukraine.
"Farmers here have been using intercropping for a long time and it has never failed to give them a harvest. I feel reassured having it on my farm,” Mugambi said. But it doesn’t work for all crops — coffee, for example, is highly dependent on fertilisers, Mugambi said.
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