Kenya mulls soil policy to adress high acidity

Kenya’s food security is likely to deteriorate unless urgent measures are taken to curb growing soil acidity.

Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Rono says 30pc of Kenyan soils are acidic which is affecting food production in the country.

Rono says the government is in the process of finalizing a soil management policy which is expected to guide and regulate the use of organic fertilizer and lime subsidy program.

Statistics indicate that Africa loses Ksh 530 billion worth of soil nutrients annually, jeopardizing the continents food security and increasing its food import bill.

Kenya is among the countries that are at risk of deteriorating food production in the near future due to acidic soils occasioned by misuse of synthetic fertilizer.

Speaking during the ongoing fertilizer conference in Nairobi, Rono said the soil management policy will guide and regulate the use of fertilizer in the country’s bread basket regions.

The policy will also guide the country’s fertilizer blending policy to ensure the chemical is effectively tailor-made for each region in the country.

Countries have also been encouraged to consider joint fertilizer production to reduce the cost of the chemical.

The continent  is seeking Ksh 2 trillion to restore the continent’s soils.

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