By Assan Ng’ombe
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 13 – The African Union’s Agenda 2063 is a blueprint for the continent’s development over the next 40 years. One of the key goals of the Agenda is to ensure food security for all Africans.
However, pollution of smallholder farming landscapes is a major challenge to achieving this goal.
Smallholder landscapes are the backbone of the African economy, providing food and livelihoods for millions of people.
Keeping these spaces functional and safe from pollution, which can lead to soil degradation, water contamination, and loss of biodiversity, holds the key to Africa’s food and economic independence.
Plastic pollution
Plastic is a particular problem in polluting agriculture landscapes in Africa. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank, and others, Africa produces only 5% of the world’s plastic waste, but it is home to 16% of the world’s population.
Urban areas in Africa generate an estimated 17 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, of which only 9% is recycled. Plastic waste pollutes multiple landscapes, waterways, and oceans, and is a major threat to food systems both terrestrial and marine based.
Exposure to plastic can also lead to cancer, reproductive problems, and developmental disorders.
The scale of the problem
The exact amount of plastic pollution in agriculture landscapes in Africa is difficult to quantify, but estimates suggest it to be significant.
A study by the University of Nairobi titled “Plastic Pollution in Agricultural Landscapes of Kenya: Implications for Soil Health and Food Security”, published in the journal of Science of the Total Environment in 2022, found that there was an average of 10 plastic items per square meter in agricultural landscapes in Kenya.
This likely to be the case in many other African countries with countries. World Economic Forum asserts that Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa have the highest plastic pollution problem in Africa.
Common plastic items that pollute landscapes include plastic bags, bottles, and straws, which can reduce soil fertility by blocking water infiltration and nutrient cycling. They can also increase the risk of foodborne diseases by providing a breeding ground for pests and pathogens.
Factors contributing to the problem
A number of factors contribute to the plastic problem in Africa. The major ones include a rapidly growing population with changing consumption patterns that increase the use of plastic products; limited waste management systems, meaning that plastic waste often ends up in the environment; and behavioural and or cultural factors, as it is common to burn or bury plastic waste, which can release harmful pollutants into the environment.
Reducing plastic pollution
As of 2023, 34 African countries have regulations banning plastic use. These bans vary in scope and enforcement, but they all represent a step towards reducing plastic pollution on the continent. Some countries with the most comprehensive plastic bans in Africa include Rwanda, it was the first country in Africa to ban plastic bags in 2008.
The ban has been very successful, and Rwanda is now one of the cleanest countries in Africa; Kenya, the country banned plastic bags in 2017. Though there have been challenges in implementing the ban, it has been successful in reducing plastic pollution; Uganda banned plastic bags in 2018; implementation of the ban has been faced with challenges. South Africa has put in place a partial ban on plastic bags.
The ban does not apply to small bags that are used in the retail of bread, vegetables, and other similar products.
In addition to enacting the banning plastic through legislative instruments, there are other actions that can be done to reduce plastic pollution in agriculture landscapes in Africa.
These include investing in research and development of sustainable alternatives to plastic; promoting sustainable agricultural practices, such as the use of organic soil health amendments and the adoption of zero-waste farming methods; improving waste management systems, including the collection, recycling, and disposal of plastic waste.
Conclusion
Plastic pollution is one of the major challenges to Africa’s food security and economic independence. There are however a solutions and actions that can be taken to reduce plastic pollution in agriculture landscapes.
These steps can help to protect smallholder landscapes and ensure a sustainable future for Africa. There is a needed for an integrated and multi-sectoral approach towards the implementation the plastic challenge that Africa faces.
Both, public and private sector stakeholders need to work together to ensure a net-zero plastic use approach for food and nutrition security as well as a clean and healthy environment in Africa.
The writer is a Resilience Officer at AGRA
