Call for aid to tackle degradation of African soil

NIGERIAN President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday called for aid to help combat the “severe degradation” of three-quarters of African farmland, a leading cause of hunger and poverty on the continent.

Mr Obasanjo’s plea for aid came in tandem with the release of a study by the Alabama-based non-governmental International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agriculture Development.

The study found that continued stripping of nutrients from the soil in Africa will heighten poverty and famine there.