On 12 acres outside of Lusaka, Kanangwa Newlove has built a thriving agricultural paradise featuring shady fruit trees, long tomato vines, and eleven varieties of lettuce. Newlove started by supplying vegetables to workmates before expanding to local supermarkets. For many agricultural producers, 2026 has proven challenging because the Iran war choked off the Strait of Hormuz and halted international trade shipments, causing global fertilizer prices to spike. Smallholder farmers across African nations, who remain vulnerable to sudden cost shifts, felt the pressure immediately. Newlove avoided the crunch entirely by utilizing a homemade, fermented compost known as bokashi. Rooted in ancient Korean farming traditions and popularized in Japan, bokashi is relatively straightforward to produce and highly effective. Newlove notes that creating a potent, organic fertilizer ready in weeks proved to be a game changer. The practice has surged in popularity across Zambia, with farmers selling homemade compost at markets and sharing techniques on social media platforms. The Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre offers specialized instruction and regularly sends students to observe Newlove’s farm operations. Rabecca Mwila of the Knowledge Platform for Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in Africa explains that farmers actively seek cost-effective growing methods, and bokashi provides a vital cushion. Home composters typically ferment food scraps in an anaerobic environment without oxygen. However, agricultural producers often make outdoor versions using accessible farm ingredients like crop residues, leaves, animal dung, charcoal, and fireplace ash. They introduce yeast and a sugar source such as molasses or mashed bananas to jump-start fermentation, generating heat as microbes break down the material. After roughly two weeks underground near crops, the concoction breaks down completely. Mwila highlights that farmers report cheaper costs and soil regeneration, noting the return of earthworms. Unpredictable rainfall and extended dry seasons driven by climate change have further fueled interest in inexpensive, sustainable practices. Concerns persist regarding the long-term effects of commercial inputs, with depleted soils often linked to the overuse of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Zambia previously imported nearly all its fertilizer, but price spikes following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine made alternatives a food security priority. Alongside organic methods, the Zambian government has championed domestic production, highlighted by a Chinese-Zambian conglomerate’s plan to build a $1.5 billion fertilizer plant. Although global prices dropped over the summer, commercial fertilizers remain expensive in several southern African countries, including South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi. Government subsidies help, but supplies remain limited. Donald Zulu, a lecturer and researcher at Copperbelt University, notes that unsubsidized fertilizer to grow 2.5 acres of corn costs about $400 USD, putting commercial products out of reach for many smallholder producers. In 2024, Zulu collaborated with WeForest and local growers to study bokashi performance on cabbage and corn. The encouraging results showed bokashi matched the yields of mineral fertilizers, proving small-scale producers could grow comparable food volumes more affordably. Surprisingly, crops treated with smaller blends of both bokashi and mineral fertilizers performed best, reinforcing food security benefits. For producers like Newlove, bokashi represents a sustainable approach to preserving land rather than just a way to save money. She emphasizes that making the non-toxic mixture requires no mask or harsh chemicals, describing the entire process as a labor of love.
Source: npr.org
