Assessment of soil amendment rock resources and balanced application of fertilizer and soil conditioners in Ethiopia

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The overall objective of the project is to increase productivity of agricultural land and improve food security in Ethiopia. The project purpose is to strenghten the capacity of the Ethiopian counterpart agencies to assess mineral resources, which are suitable for soil amendment, and to increase the counterparts’ knowledge of soil conditioners and technical know-how for balanced usage of fertilizers and conditioners. Improved food production needs balancing of the generally too acidic soil by use of soil conditioners and fertilizers in right proportions. The project is implemented by Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) in cooperation with Geological survey of Ethiopia (GSE) and the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia (MoA). In Finland the project partner is MTT Agrifood Research Finland. The beneficiaries are the partner organisations GSE and MoA with improved technical and human capacities, and the farmers, who will have easier access to soil amendments and fertilizers and get advise on how to use them in order to increase crop yields. The farmers in Ethiopia are mostly women and children. The project has the following components: - Assessment of rock resources suitable for acidic soil amendment and agricultural uses. - Balanced application of lime and fertilizers: The project conducts a soil survey in one or two selected pilot areas and determines proper proportions of fertilizers and conditioner which can be recommended for local farmers. - Related capacity building programs: e.g. upgrading of respective laboratories at GSE and MoA, including training in sustainable exploitation of raw materials, methodologies in soil and rock analysis, laboratory management and selected equipments. - Disseminating information. The expected results of the project are: 1) Increased knowledge on existing raw material (rock) and soil, 2) Improved technical and human capacities on mapping and documenting geoinformation of suitable soil amending resources, 3) Improved knowledge on balanced usage of fertilizers and conditioners that can increase agricultural productivity, 4) Improved advisory system from soil surveys to farmers for balanced use of fertilizer and soil conditioners, 5) Documenting and disseminating lessons learnt and best practices. Project budget for 2014-2015 is 500,058 euros, of which the ICI funding is 500,000 euros.