Forces of Change

Poor soils contribute to extreme poverty in rural villages
Poor soils contribute to extreme poverty in rural villages. People do not have food to eat or sell.
Courtesy Earth Institute/Columbia University

Restoring Soil Fertility in Africa, 2004–2015

South of the Sahara, farming has used up scarce soil nutrients. Struggling farmers do not leave fields fallow so nutrients can build up again naturally, and they do not add enough manure, compost, or mineral fertilizers. Their soils are now infertile.

The Millennium Villages Project is helping restore soil fertility. In 80 villages across 10 countries, farmers first received mineral fertilizers and high-yield hybrid crops. The next year, they learned to add manure and compost, or to plant legume cover crops and trees that enrich the soil with nitrogen.

This project is one of many efforts to improve soil fertility. Africans can succeed through better use of local water supplies, locally available organic or mineral fertilizers, conservation of native seed resources, and improved crops adapted to local conditions.

If villagers can grow enough to eat and sell, they can sustain their own farms.
If villagers can grow enough to eat and sell, they can sustain their own farms.
Courtesy Earth Institute/Columbia University
Harvests in three villages have more than doubled.
Harvests in three villages have more than doubled.
Courtesy Earth Institute/Columbia University