Acidic soils

Africa’s Silent Crisis: Farmers Are Mining Nutrients — But Acidic Soils Make It Worse

For decades, farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa have been extracting nutrients from their soils faster than they can be replenished — degrading both soil health and fertility.

In Kenya’s farming systems, we often talk about soil fertility but do we truly understand soil health?

Soil fertility is about the soil’s ability to supply nutrients like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) to crops. But this is just one part of the puzzle.

Soil health, on the other hand, is broader. It includes the chemical, physical, and biological qualities of the soil that sustain crop productivity and promote long-term ecosystem function.

At the center of soil health is soil organic matter which boosts nutrient cycling, water retention, microbial activity, and soil structure.

But here’s the catch Many Kenyan soils are too acidic which locks away nutrients, even when fertilizers are applied. The result? Wasted inputs, poor crop response, and declining yields.

Tested your soil yet?

The Proven Solution: CalciGrow

CalciGrow is not just a calcium fertilizer it’s a soil correction tool that:

  • Neutralizes excess soil acidity (H⁺ ions)
  • Releases locked-up phosphorus and micronutrients
  • Improves root growth, water use, and nutrient uptake
  • Enhances microbial activity for better soil biology

Whether you’re growing coffee, maize, avocados, or vegetables, CalciGrow creates the ideal pH environment for both fertilizer efficiency and soil regeneration.

Soil Health vs. Soil Fertility: Why CalciGrow is the Key to Unlocking yields

Whether you’re growing coffee, maize, avocados, or vegetables, CalciGrow creates the ideal pH environment for both fertilizer efficiency and soil regeneration.

nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) than they replace.

According to long-term studies:

Over 660 kg of nitrogen, 75 kg of phosphorus, and 450 kg of potassium per hectare have been lost across 200 million hectares in 30 years.

Cereal yields have crashed from 2–4 tons/ha to less than 1.4 tons/ha.

But here’s the deeper truth

❌ You Can’t Absorb What the Soil Won’t Release

Even when farmers replace nutrients with fertilizer, it doesn’t work in acidic soils.
Why?
Acidic pH locks nutrients in the soil — making them unavailable to crops.
Roots can’t absorb N, P, K, or even secondary nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
Fertilizer becomes a wasted investment.

CalciGrow is the proven solution to this crisis:

  • Neutralizes soil acidity by removing hydrogen ions (H⁺)
  • Unlocks nutrients trapped in acidic soils
  • Improves fertilizer efficiency and crop nutrient uptake
  • Increases yield, root development, and soil biology

Without correcting soil pH, fertilizer is just expensive dust.

Shift the Narrative: From Nutrient Mining to Soil Restoration

It’s time for a new approach.
Let’s stop blaming fertilizers and start fixing the root cause acidic, depleted soils.

With CalciGrow, farmers can restore balance, improve yields, and build long-term soil health.

Agroecology is the Future and CalciGrow is Leading the Way

Agroecology is the Future and CalciGrow is Leading the Way

Agroecology is the Future and CalciGrow is Leading the Way. Here’s how this game-changing approach is restoring Kenya’s soils and securing our food systems.

At the just-concluded 2nd National Agroecology Symposium (10–11 July 2025) at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies, one message rang loud and clear: agroecology is not just a solution. It is the solution for Kenya’s broken food systems.

Organized by a coalition of changemakers, including farmers, researchers, civil society, private sector leaders, and government policymakers. The symposium highlighted the urgent need to restore soil health, build climate resilience, and ensure food security.

One of the keynote voices, Dr. Susan Chomba, Director of Food, Land and Water at the World Resources Institute (WRI), emphasized that Kenya’s soils are in crisis. Fertiliser use has increased by 36% since 1990, yet maize yields have declined. Why? Because degraded soils can no longer respond.

Enter agroecology a science-backed, culturally rooted, and farmer-empowering system. As Eric Kasina writes in his article in the Daily Nation, agroecology offers Kenya a way to move beyond overdependence on costly chemical inputs.

🔁 This is where CalciGrow stands out.

Made from high-purity calcium carbonate derived from white marble, CalciGrow restores soil vitality by neutralizing excess soil acidity the silent killer of yields and nutrient uptake. Unlike conventional fertilisers that mask the problem, CalciGrow treats it at the root.

✅ Improves root health
✅ Releases locked-up nutrients
✅ Boosts microbial activity
✅ Reduces dependency on synthetic inputs
✅ Enhances crop yield and quality

CalciGrow supports the agroecological revolution that Kenya urgently needs by building living soils, not just feeding crops.

We echo the call by World Resources Institute (WRI), Eric Kasina, and Dr. Susan Chomba: Kenya must boldly back agroecology, not just with policies but with practical tools that deliver results on the ground. CalciGrow is one such tool.

As the WRI model proves agroecology is not a quick fix. It’s the right fix. Let’s restore our soils, revive our farms, and reclaim farmer dignity with CalciGrow at the heart of the solution.