The role of green manure/cover crops vis a vis Africa’s worsening droughts

Session: The major factor in the increase in droughts across Africa has been caused mostly by the gradual death of fallowing, and the resulting decrease in rainwater infiltration from about 60% down to 20% in most areas. GM/CCs are the only feasible way to save Africa from the rapidly increasing number of droughts and of people facing famine. Using these systems to make the soil fertile again, as well as resistant to droughts needs teaching of a very few, simple, very inexpensive gm/cc systems to tens of millions of African farmers in lowland, sub-Saharan Africa with these tremendously important techniques. It is these technologies that have a potential for turning around what could become a major humanitarian disaster.

Biographical information: Roland Bunch has worked for 45 years in soil conservation and soil recuperation in developing nations, including short-term consultancies in more than 20 nations in Africa. His book "Two Ears of Corn" has been published in 10 languages with multiple printings in four of them, and the Symposium is proud to inaugurate a revised version of his recent book “Restoring the Soil”. Involved with green manure/cover crops for 42 years, he has spread information about this technology to some 100+ nations through the Cover Crop Clearinghouse (CIDICCO) that he founded in 1989.