Boost for Africa's depleted soils (BBC)

A $180m (£90m) five-year project to revive sub-Saharan Africa's depleted soils has been launched in Nairobi.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa's (AGRA) Soil Health Program will work with 4.1 million farmers to regenerate 6.3m hectares of farmland.

Organisers hope the scheme will boost farmers' incomes, improve crop yields and protect the region's soils.

Initial funding has been provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
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"No one size can fit all," he said. "We will work with farmers and researchers to develop locally adaptable soil interventions."
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7209608.stm

Hope they practice what they preach re. flexibility. When US/UN aid workers introduced (intensive, chemical-based, mechanized) American farming methods years ago without taking account of the fact that thin tropical soil is not black prairie sod, they created huge erosion problems.

from http://www.onlineconversion.com/area.htm

who obviously aren't into "significant figures".