Experiences with biofertilizers in Africa

2 June 2022. Second in the series of HSHF (Healthy Soil for Healthy Communities) – Community Natural Farming (Andhra Pradesh) learning sessions. 

Resource:

AFSA and SKI (2021) Healthy Soil for Healthy Communities An Introduction to Soil Health Practices for Africa # 33 p. 

The focus was on experiences with biofertilizers in Africa. For many years there has been promotion of the use of compost and manure, and manure/compost liquid teas by the leading agroecology farmers and civil society organisations.

As part of taking this forward, in 2017 AFSA enabled the sharing of experiences from Latin America at a workshop in Kenya for farmers and Civil Society Organization representatives from around the African continent. The emphasis was on making and using fermentation processes to prepare both solid and liquid biofertilizers. These experiences were then shared at several workshops in East, West, and Southern Africa in 2018 and 2019.

Several organisations working with farmers have been trying out these biofertilizers and have diverse experiences. The session on June 2nd will present some of these experiences. If you’re interested in hearing about these experiences, please do attend. Topics that were covered are:

• Which biofertilisers and/or biostimulants are being used?
• How are they made and how do farmers use them?
• What results have been observed in terms of yields, plant health, soil conditions and perhaps in terms of economic benefit for the farmers?
• What challenges are being faced and how are these being addressed?
• Is it still in the experimental stage or being more widely promoted?

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