The Importance Of Sustainable Farming In Africa

Is sustainable farming in Africa a realistic aim?

Lee Jia Min U1540241L

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08/09/2015

Introduction

Agricultural practises have been changed greatly since the start of the green revolution. However, many would agree that countries in Africa are far from being able to carry out sustainable farming due to various factors. Sustainable development was originally defined in the Brundtland Commission’s report, “Our Common Future,” as “development in which present generations find ways to satisfy their needs without compromising the chances of future generations to satisfy their needs” (Brundtland 1987). However today, the definition of sustainable agriculture has grown and become more difficult to precisely define what exactly

In this paper, I will be examining the factors causing unsustainable farming and their impacts on the environment in my paper and disc looking into some of the current measures and analysing their effectiveness and challenges faced by farmers in Africa.

Background and significance: why this question is interesting

Unlike in Asia, crops in Africa are often grown on highlands. Most food crops are produced in extensive production systems, in which farmers traditionally relied on extensive fallow periods to restore soil fertility and to control insect pests and weeds (Johnson and Adesina, 1993; Roose, 1994). However, in the past two decades, changes have been done to the physical environment due to various anthropogenic factors. Rapid population growth in recent years has forced farmers to intensify land use in an unprecedented way (Becker, Johnson et al. 1995). As a result of population increase, pressure on land has reduced the 8-15 years natural fallow period that is required to regenerate soil fertility after 1-3 years of cropping to only 2-3 years, further reducing soil fertility (FAO 2004). Deforestation rates are on the rise due to greater demand for wood. Ninety-five percent of Ghana’s

This review is titled Sustainable and Unsustainable Agriculture in Ghana and Nigeria: 1960 – 2009 and it gives me two case studies to look into in Africa. Second source I am going to use is an article by Robert J. Daiz and Rutger Rosenberg. The article is titled "Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems". This article is about the causes of dead zones and the consequences of it, focusing on marine ecosystem and one part of it describes about agricultural waste and discharge. Thirdly, I am going to use an article on the WWF global website, which is on irresponsible farming and its impact on the environment. Lastly, I am going to use an article by Rachel Lauderdale, Zachary Lainer, and Scott Edelsberg from the University of Michigan, which discuss about possibility of increasing the positive impacts of green revolution in