How Eco-Farming is Protecting Food Supply in Senegal

Eco-farming
Eco-farming photo

The eco-farming method is whereby farmers do not use harmful and dangerous fertilizers or genetically modified seeds in farming. This method aims at increasing and maintaining the quality of the crop yield.

Half of Senegal’s 16 million people live in rural areas. The population is mostly dependent on subsistence farming according to the World Bank. Therefore, eco-farming is being embraced in this country to improve family farming and protect the food supply for the residents.

Experts already see Senegal as a leader on agroecology regionally. Farmers in Senegal are interested in practicing agroecology to improve their lively hoods. Different eco-farming methods have been adopted to protect food supply in Senegal.

These include the use of organic fertilizers, planting of trees, diversification of crop production and crop rotation to improve the quality of the soil in the farms.

1) Crop rotation

Crop rotation just as the name suggests is a method whereby farmers plant one crop during a certain period. This is important because it helps in improving the quality of the soil by taking only specific nutrients from the grounds.

As a result, other nutrients are replaced thus enhancing the richness of the soil. In Senegal, this eco-farming method has helped in protecting food supply by ensuring healthy food production for the Senegalese. Besides, crop rotation prevents soil borne pests and maintains soil structure. Planting of one crop in the same place year after year destroys degrades the soil structure hence the need for crop rotation.

2) Use of Organic Fertilizers

The use of organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers has improved food supply in Senegal. This eco-farming method aids in balancing the salinity in the soil and improves crop production more sustainably.

Besides, the use of organic fertilizers such as poultry droppings, livestock manures can help reduce plant vulnerability to pests. On top of that, this eco-farming method helps reduce the cost of buying chemical fertilizers that even more harmful to the soil.

Organic Fertilizers ensure farmers grow and harvest healthy food to feed their families. This eco-farming method ensures sustainable farming thus protecting food supply in Senegal.

3) Planting of Trees

Senegal is a country that is highly affected by drought. Planting of trees is one of the practices the country has embraced to restore the quality of the soil in the region. Therefore, this eco-farming method helps in increasing crop production and quality for the farmers in Senegal.

Growing trees helps prevent the wind that blows away the top fertile soil thus enhancing the crop yields in the region. The trees also provide shelter for the livestock that drops urine and manure for the farmers to use in planting.

Trees helps in fixing nitrogen back in the soil. Leaves from the trees help in forming humus which adds organic matter to the ground. Trees assist in preventing evaporation of water from the earth. As a result, crops grow and produce quality yields that the farmers can live on.

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