Contributions of Organic Farming to Environmental Sustenance and Food Security in West Africa: Policy Recommendations (Published)
The article examines contributions of organic farming (OF) to environmental sustenance and food security and identifies policies to enhance the implementation. Scientific literature on environmental damage and stress on food security caused by conventional agriculture and climate change, and benefits of OF in adaptation and mitigation of climate change were synthesized and used for the study. Results show that OF helps in keeping the environment clean by making use of refuse and wastes in the environment to produce healthy foods. Composting in organic farming brings nutrients back from the cities to the farmland. Compared to production of inorganic fertilizer it takes less energy, and when managed in an aerobic condition eliminates methane production reducing the generation of greenhouse gases and climate change. It therefore reduces environmental pollution and promotes the renewed uptake of nutrients from the soil which is what happens under the traditional farming and fallow systems. It supports biodiversity of indigenous fauna and is an advanced form of sustainable agriculture. Organic manure improves the physical properties of soil, biological status of soil, soil fertility and consequently crop yields. Organic manures are general soil amendments and do not burn or harm plants and have long term positive effects on the soil without damaging ground water. Organic manures are also perfect choices for a garden that has many different plants among other advantages. Some of the policies recommended include training extension workers in OF practices, encouraging farmer-to-farmer exchanges, compiling and disseminating emerging indigenous OF knowledge skills, technologies and crop varieties, etc.
Keywords: Contributions, Food Security, Organic Manure, environmental sustenance, farming
Contributions of Organic Farming to Environmental Sustenance and Food Security in West Africa: Policy Recommendations (Published)
The article examines contributions of organic farming (OF) to environmental sustenance and food security and identifies policies to enhance the implementation. Scientific literature on environmental damage and stress on food security caused by conventional agriculture and climate change, and benefits of OF in adaptation and mitigation of climate change were synthesized and used for the study. Results show that OF helps in keeping the environment clean by making use of refuse and wastes in the environment to produce healthy foods. Composting in organic farming brings nutrients back from the cities to the farmland. Compared to production of inorganic fertilizer it takes less energy, and when managed in an aerobic condition eliminates methane production reducing the generation of greenhouse gases and climate change. It therefore reduces environmental pollution and promotes the renewed uptake of nutrients from the soil which is what happens under the traditional farming and fallow systems. It supports biodiversity of indigenous fauna and is an advanced form of sustainable agriculture. Organic manure improves the physical properties of soil, biological status of soil, soil fertility and consequently crop yields. Organic manures are general soil amendments and do not burn or harm plants and have long term positive effects on the soil without damaging ground water. Organic manures are also perfect choices for a garden that has many different plants among other advantages. Some of the policies recommended include training extension workers in OF practices, encouraging farmer-to-farmer exchanges, compiling and disseminating emerging indigenous OF knowledge skills, technologies and crop varieties, etc.
Keywords: Contributions, Food Security, Organic Manure, environmental sustenance, farming