Regenerative agriculture a current jargon in Kenya and the sustainability world is a part of global movement towards sustainable agriculture. This approach, comprise a set of principles, ethics and practices, primarily revolving around soil health, crop biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, conservation and creating a closed system where waste from one element is used as food for another. RA aims to create a system that not only sustainable but also regenerative. It is based on the idea that agriculture can be used to improve health of the soil, sequester carbon, and improve overall health of the ecosystem.
In Kenya, excessive tillage practices have led to soil degradation and loss of biodiversity. Monocropping practices has depleted specific nutrients so farmers must applymore chemical fertilisers toget better yield.
Additionally, repetitive croppingpatterns provide a continuous food source and habitats for pest and pathogens, leading to an increased reliance on chemical pesticdes, fungicides, which not only drives up production costs but also poses a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystems.
Contrary to the Kenyan government initiatives of cheap chemical fertiliser to farmers. (intensively use fertiliser to increase yield) RA emphasises minimising soil disturbance through conservation and low-till practices, cover cropping and increase organic fertilisation, disrupting weeds cycles and encouraging crop diversity and crop rotation.
These practices enhance soil water retention and improve nutrient availability, lowering irrigation, fertiliser and pesticide requirements. RA does this by preserving the underground biological structures created by fungi, bacteria, and other soil microbes, significant above-ground benefits areachieved in return.
This eco-friendly practices restore biodiversity, improve ecosystem health and remove more carbon from the atmosphere, thereby reducing global warming.
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