Soils4Nutrition: two years of action to tackle soil and crop nutrient deficiencies
Sustainable soil management practices promoted in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, and Malawi
Launched in 2019, the Soils4Nutrition project led by FAO’s Global Soil Partnership (GSP) has conducted field trials in Malawi, Bangladesh, and Burkina Faso, equipping groups of local farmers with the knowledge to implement sustainable soil management (SSM) practices.
Healthy soils are essential for quality crops and by using the latest techniques and technologies, farmers can have a direct impact on the foods consumed by their communities by improving the nutritional content (particularly micronutrients) of local produce as well as addressing nutrient weaknesses in diets.
Soils4Nutrition is a two-year initiative that was set up with funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The countries were selected to participate in the Programme because their populations were high in micronutrient deficiencies, particularly those living in rural communities.
The high cost of healthy diets coupled with persistent elevated levels of income inequality put healthy diets out of reach for around three billion people, especially the poor, in every region of the world in 2019 according to FAO’s latest estimates published in the annual, "State of Food and Nutrition" (SOFI) Report.
Investments must be made to combat micronutrient deficiencies in diets – which occur when the quality of food that people eat does not meet their nutrient requirements – so they do not get the essential vitamins and minerals they need for adequate growth and development.
Over the last two years, the GSP and FAO’s country office partners have been working with farming groups to explain the interdependent relationship between nutrients contained in the soil and the nutritional value of food. Eighteen minerals and nutrients are needed for sustainable plant growth and human health.
Having a balanced diet is linked to the quality of crops which can only grow appropriately if they can access the right balance of nutrients from the soil they grow in. Some crops need higher quantities of nutrients to grow healthily and produce a good harvest, but micronutrient deficiency can be a limiting factor in expressing yield potential.
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture is a food-based approach to development that puts nutritionally rich foods, dietary diversity, and food fortification at the heart of overcoming malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.
Crops need nutrition too: farming groups to tackle the root causes of malnutrition
The preliminary results from the Soils4Nutrition field trials indicate that by following the basic principles of sustainable nutrient management in line with FAO’S Fertilizer Code farmers can produce better quality crops to sell to their communities and in turn transform their diets into nutritious ones.
The work carried out over the past two years shows that by applying the right compound of micronutrients in a timely manner and in the correct terrain in keeping with the basic principles of SSM all parties in the food chain can thrive.
In Burkina Faso, after following Soils4Nutrition training, farming groups learnt how to source and apply the right mix of micronutrients, organic matterand fertilizers to get the best possible growth fromsorghum and cowpea – also known as a black-eyed pea – and listed as one of the most ancient food sources, commonly found in many parts of Africa.
In Bangladesh, individuals learnt the importance of introducing foliar or basal zinc when growing biofortified rice. The GSP and partners were able to provide guidance on the right quantities to use to get the most out of the existing soil nutrient supply to produce nutrient-packed crops. Rice, cauliflower, maize, and potatoes were grown in such a way.
In Malawi, tests were carried out to establish the right time to add nutrients to test patches of maize to ensure SSM practices contributed to the assimilation of crop micronutrients in maize, soybean, and amaranth, a protein-rich, grain, like quinoa.
Methods such as intercropping and crop rotation proved beneficial to those in each of the pilot site countries, especially when legumes and pulses were planted on the same plot, allowing for the diversification of nutrients taken in by diverse types of plants.
Soil organic matter was also included in the field trials as it has multiple proven benefits for soil health including ameliorating soil structure, water content – all of which led to crops being able to take in the right mix of nutrients and micronutrients needed for healthy growth.
The outcomes of the Soils4Nutrition pilot project will be presented at the Global Symposium for nutrition-sensitive agriculture to be held in Rome, Italy from 26-29 July 2022.
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