SA needs national strategy to better monitor soil pollution

Pollution poses a major threat to the world’s soils and jeopardises the provision of key soil ecosystem services, including the provision of safe and nutritious food, the availability of clean water, and the existence and conservation of soil biodiversity.

SA needs national strategy to better monitor soil pollution
Farmers are being urged to monitor soil health and pollution levels, and use pesticides and herbicides responsibly.
Photo: FW Archive
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Pollution poses a major threat to the world’s soils and jeopardises the provision of key soil ecosystem services, including the provision of safe and nutritious food, the availability of clean water, and the existence and conservation of soil biodiversity.

This was according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), titled ‘The global assessment of soil pollution’.

Martiné Blaauw, lead consultant of Terra Africa Consultants, who authored the chapter on sub-Saharan Africa in the report, told Farmer’s Weekly that soil pollution was just as big a threat in sub-Saharan Africa as in the rest of the world.

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This was due to rapid population growth, accompanied by rapid urbanisation and a need for resources, creating a perfect storm that increased the pressure on land for food production and settlement.

The situation was being exacerbated by the fact that the continent was far behind the rest of the wold in terms of monitoring the extent of soil pollution. However, in South Africa, there were more laboratories equipped to analyse a wider range of soil pollutants, while the country also had stricter regulations governing soil pollution than the rest of the continent.

“While countries in Europe and North America have websites and extensive databases that show the extent of soil pollution over certain areas, as well as the progress on remediation projects, countries in our region do not have such data.

“Many hazardous chemicals that may no longer be produced in other parts of the world are also still being allowed in some countries in the region, while pollution because of mining is another major problem,” she said.

To address the problem, households had to take responsibility for their own waste. Blaauw’s research found that 81 million tons of municipal solid waste was generated in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, and this was expected to increase to 244 million tons by 2025. Despite these figures, the average recycling rate was only about 4%.

“Recycle your waste where possible to avoid waste ending on municipal dumps where it is burned prior to sorting and contributes to soil pollution. Also don’t dump electronic waste in a bin, but take it to a company that is properly equipped to recycle it to prevent the release of carcinogenic pollutants.”