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Status, Drivers, and Suggested Management Scenarios of Salt-Affected Soils in Africa

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Biosaline Agriculture as a Climate Change Adaptation for Food Security

Abstract

Africa with its massive land area covering 3 billion ha and 65% of the uncultivated arable land is a strategic continent that will determine the future of food systems in the world. Therefore, Africa must prepare itself to rapidly modernize its agriculture for unlocking its full potential while maintaining properly the vast expanses, which are currently in use by millions of smallholder farmers. This chapter discusses soil salinity and sodicity, which are types of soil degradation, and widely prevalent in semi-arid and arid regions of Africa. Presumably, salt-affected soils in Africa occupy about 80,000,000 ha of which 69 million ha are found in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In SSA an estimated 180 million people are affected while the economic loss due to land degradation is estimated at $68 billion per year. The predominant mechanisms triggering the accumulation of soluble salt in the agricultural soils of Africa are seawater intrusion, rising ground waters in low-lying topography from saline aquifers, and irrigation waters. As the soil dries, salts become concentrated in the soil solution, increasing salt stress. Soils, especially in hot and dry areas, are often naturally salty, but inefficient irrigation and poor drainage lead to waterlogging, which raises the water table, bringing salts in the subsoil nearer the surface. When the water evaporates, salt is left around the roots of plants, preventing them from absorbing water and stunting growth. The more that irrigation is used to boost food production, the more soils turn out to be saline. The accumulation of salts in the root zone can have a variety of agricultural impacts. Vitally, salt not only degrades soils and crop productivity but also increases poverty and social instability. Reversing of soil salinity or sodicity is possible although it takes time and is expensive, as well. Solutions include diversifying the land use types, improving the efficiency of irrigation methods with efficient drainage systems, in-situ moisture conservation using mulches to keep the soils cool and moist, and the use of multipurpose salt tolerant crops with a rotation plan.

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  1. Centre for Soil and Fertilizer Research in Africa, AgroBioScience Program, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, Morocco

    Fassil Kebede

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  1. Agricultural Innovation and Technologies Transfer Cernter, University Mohamed VI Polytechnic, Benguerir, Morocco

    Redouane Choukr-Allah

  2. UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UKCEH, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK

    Ragab Ragab

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Kebede, F. (2023). Status, Drivers, and Suggested Management Scenarios of Salt-Affected Soils in Africa. In: Choukr-Allah, R., Ragab, R. (eds) Biosaline Agriculture as a Climate Change Adaptation for Food Security. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24279-3_13

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