Healthy soils are a precondition for good agricultural productivity. They provide various environmental services – such as purifying water, regulating nutrient flow, housing beneficial organisms, and supporting food production. As weather conditions become increasingly variable, farmers need healthy soils that can withstand heavier rains and store more water during drier periods. This makes improving soil health important to increase smallholder resilience to climate change.
It is a simple equation: soil is essential for life, so investing in it means caring about life for present and future generations. In most smallholder contexts, land size per household has shrunk after years of subdivision. Similarly, farming intensity has increased in recent years, raising concerns about the capacity of soils to keep pace with increased crop production trends.
In other words, while soils are at the core of farmers’ livelihoods, farmers have – through no fault of their own – contributed to its degradation; and they are also the most affected by it. Practices like soil testing can increase farmers’ understanding of their soils’ needs and motivate better farming approaches, like agroforestry and organic inputs, that can improve and maintain soil health.
Soil health and its role in sustainability
Maintaining healthy soils is crucial to agricultural and environmental sustainability. Current land and crop management practices have resulted in poor soil quality, impacting its health and the environment. Excessive use of fertilizers can result in nutrient surpluses and water and air pollution. On the other hand, we still need fertilizers for increased crop yields, which makes finding sustainable nutrient management practices crucial.
Farmers are crucial to maintaining a healthy ecosystem, but they often lack the appropriate knowledge and tools to assist them when making farming decisions to improve their soils and reduce negative environmental impact. This is because they lack access to diagnostic tools, such as soil testing facilities. To move farmers towards better soil health and sustainable production, they need to understand their soil health status and what issues to address to improve the quality. This is where soil testing comes in.
Soil testing as a solution
Different crops are usually grown on different soil types and require custom fertilizer requirements and specific soil management practices. Knowing your soil’s physical and chemical characteristics and the exact nutrient composition is critical to a healthy crop production system.
This year, One Acre Fund-Tanzania is collaborating with the government to conduct soil testing for farmers to empower them with the right information regarding their soils to enable sustainable production.
Part of these efforts is increasing accessibility to soil testing facilities for smallholders. Under this project, the government and One Acre Fund are ensuring farmers can make informed fertilizer/nutrient management decisions, reducing risks to the soil such as erosion, low fertility, acidity, and moisture retention, increasing farming profitability in the long run.
Besides determining soil nutrient requirements, soil testing has several additional benefits to a farmer. To start with, understanding a soil’s status minimizes fertilizer expenditure and maximizes profitability. Knowing the quantity and type of fertilizer a crop and soil needs ensures farmers don’t waste money on unnecessary extra fertilizer. Moreover, sources of critical nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium are finite, meaning we must ensure their optimal usage for sustainability.
Additionally, investing in healthy soils combats soil degradation. Each year, billions of tons of top fertile soils are lost due to erosion caused by poor soil management practices leading to soil degradation.
This, in turn, directly affects the livelihoods and health of entire communities through harvest losses. Moreover, soil restoration is costly, complex, and time-consuming; soil management through soil testing for sustainable and farm-specific recommendations is an easier route.
Moreover, understanding soil status promotes best management practices for sustainable soil management, such as adding organic inputs like compost, manure, and crop residues; intercropping, and applying soil conditioners like lime. These practices lead to increased yields, superior environmental risk management, accelerated crop maturity and quality, and higher tolerance to disease and pest damage.
Create practical outcomes
Smallholder farms are places where soil health is intimately linked to livelihoods and the environment – often providing important insights into soil health management. By getting pertinent information into the hands of smallholder farmers, we can adapt these insights to different farmer contexts to create practical outcomes.
By sensitizing farmers on the importance of soil testing, we empower them to care for their land. When farmers test and tend to their soil, they usher in a healthy ecosystem where they can thrive and gain control of their livelihoods.
Through public-private initiatives, such as that between One Acre Fund and the Government of Tanzania, we can provide regular opportunities for smallholders to access soil testing to help improve the health status of their soils.
The soil tests are fast and inexpensive; when done regularly, we can ensure that farmers are armed with the knowledge they need to expeditiously mitigate common soil health problems.
Ms. Musetti is the External Relations Manager at One Acre Fund – Tanzania.
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Tanzania Confirms Second Marburg Outbreak After WHO Chief Visit
Dar es Salaam — Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has declared an outbreak of Marburg virus, confirming a single case in the northwestern region of Kagera after a meeting with WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The confirmation follows days of speculation about a possible outbreak in the region, after the WHO reported a number of deaths suspected to be linked to the highly infectious disease.
While Tanzania’s Ministry of Health declared last week that all suspected cases had tested negative for Marburg, the WHO called for additional testing at international reference laboratories.
“We never know when an outbreak might occur in a neighbouring nation. So we ensure infection prevention control assessments at every point of care as routine as a morning greeting at our workplaces.”Amelia Clemence, public health researcher
Subsequent laboratory tests conducted at Kagera’s Kabaile Mobile Laboratory and confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one positive case, while 25 other suspected cases tested negative, the president told a press conference in Dodoma, in the east of the country today (Monday).
“The epicentre has now shifted to Biharamulo district of Kagera,” she told the press conference, distinguishing this outbreak from the previous one centred in Bukoba district.
Tedros said the WHO would release US$3 million from its emergencies contingency fund to support efforts to contain the outbreak.
Health authorities stepped up surveillance and deployed emergency response teams after the WHO raised the alarm about nine suspected cases in the region, including eight deaths.
The suspected cases displayed symptoms consistent with Marburg infection, including headache, high fever, diarrhoea, and haemorrhagic complications, according to the WHO’s alert to member countries on 14 January. The organisation noted a case fatality rate of 89 per cent among the suspected cases.
“We appreciate the swift attention accorded by the WHO,” Hassan said.
She said her administration immediately investigated the WHO’s alert.
“The government took several measures, including the investigation of suspected individuals and the deployment of emergency response teams,” she added.
Cross-border transmission
The emergence of this case in a region that experienced Tanzania’s first-ever Marburg outbreak in March 2023 has raised concerns about cross-border transmission, particularly following Rwanda’s recent outbreak that infected 66 people and killed 15 before being declared over in December 2024.
The situation is particularly critical given Kagera’s position as a transport hub connecting four East African nations.
Amelia Clemence, a public health researcher working in the region, says constant vigilance is required.
“We never know when an outbreak might occur in a neighbouring nation. So we ensure infection prevention control assessments at every point of care as routine as a morning greeting at our workplaces.”
The Kagera region’s ecosystem, home to fruit bats that serve as natural reservoirs for the Marburg virus, adds another layer of complexity to disease surveillance efforts.
The virus, closely related to Ebola, spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe haemorrhagic fever.
Transparency urged
Elizabeth Sanga, shadow minister of health for Tanzania’s ACT Wazalendo opposition party, says greater transparency would help guide public health measures.
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“This could have helped to guide those who are traveling to the affected region to be more vigilant and prevent the risk of further spread,” she said.
WHO regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti says early notification of investigation outcomes is important.
“We stand ready to support the government in its efforts to investigate and ensure that measures are in place for an effective and rapid response,” she said, noting that existing national capacities built from previous health emergencies could be quickly mobilised.
The situation coincides with leadership changes in Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, with both the chief medical officer and permanent secretary being replaced.
This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
Source: allafrica.com
Tanzania Confirms Outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease
Dodoma — Tanzania today confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern Kagera region after one case tested positive for the virus following investigations and laboratory analysis of suspected cases of the disease.
President of the Republic of Tanzania, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, made the announcement during a press briefing alongside World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the country’s administrative capital Dodoma.
“Laboratory tests conducted in Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and later confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one patient as being infected with the Marburg virus. Fortunately, the remaining suspected patients tested negative,” the president said. “We have demonstrated in the past our ability to contain a similar outbreak and are determined to do the same this time around.”
A total of 25 suspected cases have been reported as of 20 January 2025, all of whom have tested negative and are currently under close follow-up, the president said. The cases have been reported in Biharamulo and Muleba districts in Kagera.
“We have resolved to reassure the general public in Tanzania and the international community as a whole of our collective determination to address the global health challenges, including the Marburg virus disease,” said H.E President Hassan.
WHO is supporting Tanzanian health authorities to enhance key outbreak control measures including disease surveillance, testing, treatment, infection prevention and control, case management, as well as increasing public awareness among communities to prevent further spread of the virus.
“WHO, working with its partners, is committed to supporting the government of Tanzania to bring the outbreak under control as soon as possible, and to build a healthier, safer, fairer future for all the people of Tanzania,” said Dr Tedros. “Now is a time for collaboration, and commitment, to protecting the health of all people in Tanzania, and the region, from the risks posed by this disease.”
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
“The declaration by the president and the measures being taken by the government are crucial in addressing the threat of this disease at the local and national levels as well as preventing potential cross-border spread,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Our priority is to support the government to rapidly scale up measures to effectively respond to this outbreak and safeguard the health of the population,”
Tanzania previously reported an outbreak of Marburg in March 2023 – the country’s first – in Kagera region, in which a total of nine cases (eight confirmed and one probable) and six deaths were reported, with a case fatality ratio of 67%.
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In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Although several promising candidate medical countermeasures are currently undergoing clinical trials, there is no licensed treatment or vaccine for effective management or prevention of Marburg virus disease. However, early access to treatment and supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improve survival.
Source: allafrica.com
