AGRA: Africa's soils are in trouble, says Jane Karuku
By JIMOH BABATUNDE, Maputo, Mozambique The President of the Alliance for Green revolution in Africa (AGRA), Jane Karuku, has said that for Africa to be able to feed itself and for its farm produce to be competitive in international market there is need to use both organic and inorganic fertilizer. Speaking ahead of the opening ceremony of the African Green Revolution Forum here in Maputo Tuesday, Karuku said AGRA believes in generating homegrown solutions to Africa´s food security challenges through building capacity across the whole agricultural value chain. Karuku explained that the usage of fertilizer in Africa is so low that there is need to accept that we must use fertilizer to grow productivity and that African farmers must be brave enough to break the circle by using both organic and inorganic fertilizer. "Africa's soils are in trouble. Continuous farming without replenishing soil nutrients has depleted three-quarters of farmland. Without access to fertilizers and org...