by Wole Fatunbi
In a bid to ensure that the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) is operationalized to deliver its planned social and economic benefits, a group of experts on the subject of Human Capital gathered for three days (4-6th April 2024) at the RUFORUM conference Hall at the Makerere University, Kampala Uganda.
The gathering discussed the role Human Capital in ensuring the management of the Africa soil for increased but sustainable agricultural productivity, coherent ecosystem services while retaining the integrity of the Africa soil as its prime production asset.
Prof. Patrick Okori, Executive Secretary, RUFORUM; addressing the gathering of experts and stakeholders
This expert gathering was unprecedented in the history of Human Capital development for the management of the Africa soil. Human capital is a composite nomenclature, it refers to the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by individuals or populations; the institution that governs their use, and the cost and the value it adds to the organization or country. The human capital needed for soil management will encompass issues like; (a). Availability of knowledge and skill to generate appropriate technologies and innovation for sustainable use of soils. (b). Availability of teaching and training institutes for continuous development of skillful human resources for innovation. (c). Capacity and infrastructure for knowledge transfer and use. (d). The existence of a system for technology and knowledge demand and supply between users and generators of new knowledge. and (e). Linkages between system components and the management of the soil ecosystem.
Presentation of recent study that track human capital in soil science showed the need to optimize training for the overall benefit of the society. ( https://envalert.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Africa-report-on-soil-science-human-capital.pdf © 2018 Eurasian Center for Food Security, Moscow, Russia).
It became clear that Human Capital development for soil only be effective when it gives attention to channeling training efforts to farmers and other soil users for effective management of soil, rather than training soil scientist only. It was clear that enrolment for specialization in soil science is very low in most tertiary institutions; possibly due to the inability of the system to absorb them, apparently, majority of those trained in the last three decades are diffused into other disciplines or ancillary area to soil science. The puzzle is how many soil scientists are truly needed per thousand farmers or a million individuals in the population? The right answer to this question will inform the right action and the investment needed to achieve the aspirations of Soil initiative for Africa and the Africa fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP).
In a bid to have appropriate human capital development for managing Africa soils, there is the need to train fewer scientists with globally competitive skills and access to infrastructure to generate new solutions on the continent. The training of soil users within the civil society, especially the smallholder farmers, is essential for progress in managing Africa soil. There is the need to develop or optimize the existing knowledge demand mechanism on soil management at different levels. Investment in awareness creation/communication on the need to effectively manage Africa soil is vital to successful mobilization of civil society to halt the pace of land degradation. Lastly, Africa will need to develop the right institution that will incentivize ethical use of the soil and disincentivize the abuse of soil resources.