The Future of Our Food

It is not only in the developing world that, because of climate change, there is an increasing fear about the quality of soil. According to the EU (2025), more than 60 percent of all agricultural soils are degraded on our continent, and in the UK, the same has happened.

The FAO has warned that a staggering 90 percent of the world’s topsoil could be at risk by mid-century. The poor quality of soil health poses all sorts of dangers, such as decreasing biodiversity, adding to greenhouse gas emissions, and threatening general food security.

This is why many farms across the UK and other parts of the EU are now advocating a policy of regenerative farming before the entire food system collapses.

This approach involves practices like no-till farming, planting cover crops to protect bare soil, and rotating crops to restore nutrients naturally. However, a significant challenge remains.

One disastrous consequence of this growing food deficit is that Europe and other developed nations, would try to source their food from poorer countries that will be defenceless against both the political and economic power of the outside buyers, creating a new form of food colonialism. But, in order to protect our own soils, we must fundamentally change our farming methods. That means going back to more natural ways of improving soil quality. One of the primary problems that farmers face when they switch from artificial fertilisers and other chemical inputs to organic alternatives is that their outputs dramatically decrease.

Farmers must be prepared for a serious loss of productivity in the short term, a financial risk many are unable to take without government support.

Furthermore, farmers must use less heavy agricultural machinery. Tilling and ploughing seriously disrupt the complex underground network of fungi, bacteria, protists (like amoeba and kelp), and nematodes. This delicate ecosystem, often called the soil food web, is what truly nourishes plants and maintains soil health through natural processes, reducing the need for external chemicals.

But a totally different scenario applies to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, the challenges are even more fundamental. Many farmers do not know how to effectively use natural fertilisers, and they have had to cut down trees for fuel, as there is no other energy source (animal dung, where available, is too precious as a household fuel to be used as a fertiliser). The quality of seeds is very low because of fakes coming from Nigeria or China (possibly as much as 80%, according to a study by the World Bank), and farmers often lack the knowledge to diversify their crops to build resilience.

In a recent interview in the Financial Times, Wandile Sihlobo, a member of South Africa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council, compared his country with others across the continent and suggested crucial political and institutional changes. While South Africa is a huge country with a decent road network and large commercial farms, it offers a vital lesson.

Mr. Sihlobo made a highly relevant comment: most of South Africa has had its land registered. This registration provides clear rights to ownership and clarifies who has the right to use the land. This security makes it worthwhile for farmers to make long-term investments in their soil and infrastructure, as they know they will reap the benefits. It also allows them to use their land as collateral to access credit. He was encouraging other nations to follow suit and regulate land holdings to foster sustainable land development.