When Fertilizer Became Too Expensive, Farmer Found Hope in the Soil
By Favourite Kalando As the sun rises over Serenje District, Gibson Ngoma is already in his field. Instead of opening bags of chemical fertilizer, the 56-year-old farmer walks towards a large heap of maize stalks, dry grass, leaves and cattle manure. To many people, it looks like farm waste. To him, it is the future of farming. "It is all I need," he says with a smile. "Everything for my fertilizer comes from right here." For many years, farmers across Zambia have relied on chemical fertilizers to produce good harvests. But that has become increasingly difficult. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains, and when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, fertilizer prices rose sharply. What used to cost about K750 per bag before 2019 climbed to around K1,200 by 2022, making it difficult for many small-scale farmers to afford enough fertilizer. But rising input costs are only part of the problem. Farmers are also battling the growing effects of climate change. Er...