The loss of soil fertility in sierra leone is escalating rapidly. soil infertility is a major problem because it kills the land so farmers are not able to grow crops in that specific area. The loss of soil fertility is the result of excessive fires, mostly by hunters trying to clear land for hunting or by farmers burning the grass specifically for planting or the fires could be from idiots throwing cigarettes out the window.
Farmers continuously are cropping but at the same time, farmers dont treat the land with enough fertilizer, allowing the land to die and become cracked and dry. Without the soil the production of food is going down and the rates of starvation and hunger will go up. This is why we have to act now.
Now they run into low erosion risks. Erosion is the deterioration of the soil by wind or water or not enough moisture. The local farmers have tride to block some of the rivers and streams, but have failed. "water erosion, low pH with aluminium (Al) toxicity, high phosphorus (P) fixation, low levels of soil organic matter, poor farming methods and a loss of soil biodiversity, food security may not be achieved in the near future unless urgent intervention measures are undertaken" By, M K Amara Denis, A Kamara and Edwin J J Momoh. This is a quote from the article "Soil Fertility Status of Three Chiefdoms in Pujehun District of Southern Sierra Leone" this is just one example of the issues of erosion and the soil in sierra leone.
My personal opinion is that the farmers need to wake up and notice that they are killing not only there crops now but future crops. To me that is just bad business planing but then again they need to make as much money and fast since the poverty rates are so high. They are killing there land and all its potential just for there own benefit, not to mention all of the animal habitats that are being destroyed. but that is another topic.
Sources:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261795683_Soil_Fertility_Status_of_Three_Chiefdoms_in_Pujehun_District_of_Southern_Sierra_Leone
http://www.standardtimespress.org/artman/publish/article_4148.shtml
Blog post 3