1st Soil Symposium in Addis Abeba
10.03.2023
Within the framework of the ETH-Soil project, the first Soil Symposium was organised in Addis Abeba on the 28th of February 2023. On behalf of the Oromia Bureau of Agriculture, greeting were expressed by Mrs. Shitaye Lemma. She highlighted the priorities of the Bureau and underlined the importance of more high quality organic fertilizer production for the agricultural transformation in Oromia.
The programme exposed 29 participants to informative reports on sustainable land use successes already achieved in the framework of Ethio-German cooperation (Dr. Steffen Schulz). Andrea Wilhemi-Somé (GIZ) outlined the revised Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) strategy under review as well as the many initiatives supported on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation supporting ecological preservation as well as productivity and income generation in the Ethiopian agriculture and resulting value chains. Prof. Dr. Bruno Glaser (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg) provided participants with a profound overview of globally available insight on various beneficial effects of #biochar as a soil amendment for degraded #tropical soils.
DBFZ made samples of certified biochar augmented with nutrients available to all participants. Dr. Annett Pollex complemented these samples with her presentation of European quality standards for biochar. Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, ITHAKA Institute, explained the preconditions and mechanism to be in place for CO2-sequestration to lead to benefits effectively paid to farmers, who invest efforts in the production and application of biochar.
On behalf of the Dutch NGO SNV, that is currently managing the EU support to updating the Ethiopian biogas strategy, Carlos Bueso Valera outlined past achievements and future plans to put more emphasis on the fertilizing effect of digestates. Finally, Stefan Majer (DBFZ) gave a brief overview on LCA calculation before Dr. Volker Lenz and Kerstin Wilde closed the Symposium with a brief outline on further project activities.