Bush burning is a serious threat to the health and well-being of people living in villages across Africa

 

Bush burning is the practice of setting fire to vegetation, either intentionally or accidentally, in Nigeria.

It is a common occurrence in Africa (case study Nigeria) during the dry season when the grasses and weeds are dry and flammable.

Bush burning is mainly done for agricultural purposes such as clearing land for cultivation, controlling pests, and enhancing soil fertility.

It is also done for hunting, as some hunters here use fire to drive out animals from their hiding places.

However, bush burning has many negative effects on the environment, health, and economy, as it causes air pollution, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, damage to infrastructure and livelihood, and increased vulnerability to climate change.

In my local community known as ORJI and Azaraegbelu respectively bush burning is a threat to our Healthy living as most of the residents here are farmers and take to bush burning as a means of getting rid of their farm waste products.

It is the farming season, and each family in this community owns farmland and is already clearing it to start planting as the rains are here.

Some of them have no idea of the health implications of bush burning and its disadvantages to our climate!

Just the Holy Bible says "People perish from lack of knowledge" Villagers in Azaraegbelu and Orji who engage in this farm practice need sensitization and the media is a good tool to achieve this.

In other words, our people say "You do not take food from the mouth of a child and expect them not to cry" It wouldn't be a great idea if we tell our people not to engage in bush burning and proffer them with no solution or alternative, that is why I propose the idea of "Hole Digging" "Farm waste chemicals" and a "waste grinder"

With these innovations, our villagers can do away with their farm waste products without engaging in bush burning!

The hole-digging innovation is already a practice in our locality amongst a few people, but not generally accepted yet!

With this, each farmer digs a hole in the farms and pours their farm waste products in there and allows it to gradually decompose on its own!

This practice poses no harm to the atmosphere, the soil, and even the climate, the only risk is people who are not familiar with the farmland can fall into the pits if they mistakenly go in there without prior knowledge!

Another proposed method to stop bush burning is the invasion of a chemical that we can name a "waste dissolver"

This will see to the gradual decomposing of farm waste products. This is a chemical-like method, where a chemical able to dissolve farm wastes is invented and dropped on the waste, which breaks the waste down into smaller molecules that can later be used as manure for the crops.

Every farmer who has access to this, will just gather their waste together and pour a few drops of this chemical on them and go their way, in a space of 7 days, the waste decomposes and helps the farmers not to light a fire.

However, the only challenge that will be faced with this invasion is the risk of soil degradation as the chemical may pose a harmful substance to the soil and even the plants at large if not properly administered.

With the waste grinder innovation, the machine is invented that can help farmers grind their waste products into smaller molecules and use them in the dark as manure later on!

These proposed methods are my best ways to put an end to bush burning in my local community as the disadvantages of bush burning are more than the benefits(if there are any)

In all, we should remember the media is a great tool for social change and must be used to effect the changes we seek in our local communities and the world at large.

The masses in my local community have radio access more than any other mass media and can be used to drive home this change desired in our community, to let them know the dangers of bush burning and encourage them to use the other proposed methods to help them have a healthy atmosphere void of air pollution.