January 20,2017, Nairobi. BASF launches Farming, the Biggest Job on Earth campaign to address growing demand for food on dwindling land. The world’s leading chemical company BASF has developed a new campaign aimed at celebrating farmers across the globe and supporting agriculture to enable increasing production of enough food for the burgeoning world population estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050. This figure has sent food experts to the drawing board with a warning that current production methods are not compatible with the required high farm productivity.
Dubbed ‘Farming, the biggest job on earth,’ is a campaign that seeks to assist farmers access latest farming innovations, ensuring soil remains healthy and connecting farmers to high quality, fast maturing drought tolerant seed varieties. “In 1960 the total agricultural areas was 4,300 meter square per head, in 2005 it shrunk to 2200 and by 2030 this will shrink further to 1800. This means that the same parcel of land, has been feeding more people. Population grows, land does not. The only way we can ensure that parcel of land can continue feeding more mouths is make it more productive through innovation,” said Gift Mbaya, Sub Hub Manager – Crop Protection & Public Health at BASF East Africa Ltd during the National Farmer’s Awards 2016.
“At BASF we create chemistry to equip farmers with the skills needed to improve productivity. It is for this reason that we see Farming as the biggest job on earth because our lives begin with eating. The person who produces the food, the most basic of human needs has the biggest job to do. The future for all of us is in the farmers’ hands. Making every seed count,” Mr. Mbaya added.
The campaign is timely especially in Kenya, coming at a time when recent reports have indicated that the country is struggling to feed its population. According to a Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Kenya is among 50 countries where levels of hunger remain serious or alarming, with one in every five Kenyans being undernourished and one in four children being stunted, putting the country marginally ahead of conflict-prone Iraq.
“BASF is working with farmers to keep the soil fertile and fruitful with the right amounts of water and nutrients. Stewarding the land and planning for the future” reiterated Mr Mbaya. Without technology, food production becomes a herculean task explaining why BASF is supporting farmers to access innovation, solutions and experts to enable them to improve productivity, increase efficiency, and stay at the cutting edge of their profession ensuring growing demands are met, year after year.
