Justdiggit has carried out numerous agroecology projects across Africa, restoring the natural environment and effectively halting desertification. Using simple, nature-based techniques.
All it takes is a spade. To restore natural environments and protect soil from loss of fertility and desertification. That is the conviction of the experts at the NGO Justdiggit (literally "just dig it"), who in Africa — specifically in Tanzania and Kenya — have carried out dozens of landscape restoration and conservation projects, rehabilitating degraded land through simple agroecological techniques. The goal is to restore the water balance and vegetation, so as to generate a positive climate effect, reducing extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, storing large quantities of CO2 and cooling regional temperatures.
The Dutch organisation, made up of experts and researchers who work in Africa on international cooperation projects, presented its results at Seed & Chips, the food and innovation summit held in Milan in May. "Our work involves simple interventions, such as planting new trees or creating water bunds that fertilise the land and soil," Marjolein Albers, the NGO's general director, explains to LifeGate. "In Kenya, for example, it rains almost as much as in the Netherlands, but only two or three times a year. So the fertile soil gets washed away and degrades."
Instead, thanks to so-called water bunds, it is possible to store water in what resemble holes of varying sizes. Bunds are among the most common techniques used in agriculture to collect surface runoff, increase water infiltration and prevent soil erosion. Their principle involves digging a hole — hence the spade — and building mounds along contour lines, so that water runoff is slowed down: this results in greater water infiltration and higher soil moisture. "We worked with the Maasai in Kenya, asking them to work plots of land and then move on to another area, leaving the former time to recover vegetatively," Albers explains. "A kind of crop rotation." Within two years, the vegetation and natural cycles return to new life. "This happens because the seeds are already present in the soil; what is needed is sustainable water management. And showing farmers what to do to preserve the land using just a spade. And digging."
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The benefits of these simple practices are numerous, particularly for those parts of Africa where soil erosion advances year by year. The recovered vegetation cover improves soil conditions by increasing water infiltration. Furthermore, the root systems of the vegetation bind the soil together and further reduce erosion, while the greater availability of soil moisture extends the growing season (Taylor, 2007). Landscape restoration also has a positive impact on the microclimate. It cools the area by providing greater shade, while vegetation that transpires moisture cools the surrounding air and leads to an increase in air humidity (Werth and Avissar, 2002; Reij, 2013; Pielke Sr et al., 2006).
Vegetation also has effects on air circulation, clouds and precipitation (Ellison et al., 2017) and is capable of slowing cloud movement: due to this deceleration and the increase in air humidity, clouds become denser, increasing the likelihood of rainfall.
The results have been impressive: so far, in the Dodoma region of Tanzania alone, the programme has restored 194,400 hectares of land, with the growth of at least 14 million trees that continue to provide shelter and soil protection. And to guarantee development and food security for local communities.