GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, May 13, 2022 – At Ugacof, Sucafina’s sister company in Uganda, the team has been assessing alternatives to synthetic fertilizers and is distributing 100 tons of organic fertilizer to farmers in Uganda. We checked in with Sjaak De Bloois, Head of Farm Management & Agronomy at Ugacof, to find out why it’s important to explore affordable and effective ways to feed plants naturally while restoring the soil:
“Constantly feeding crops synthetic fertilizer often results in degrading soils, causing the ground to function inefficiently. This means that over time the dosage of synthetic fertilizer must increase to keep the plants well fed.”
One source of organic fertilizer we’re assessing is black soldier fly (BSF) larvae, which consume coffee pulp and food waste and convert it into nutrient-rich compost.
“By running these trials, we’ve discovered that BSF fertilizer is as effective and affordable as the synthetics; and on top of that it improves yields and restores soil,” Sjaak explains.
Great news for us! Synthetic fertilizers are a significant source of carbon emissions. So, by gradually offering an alternative to our farmers and including them in the process we can improve our relationship with them while also reducing our carbon footprint and turning our biggest waste issue (coffee pulp) into a solution. The next step is to demonstrate that this is possible on a larger scale!
Read more about other efforts in Uganda here.