http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership This presentation was made during the African Soil Prtnership consulation workshop which took a place in Ghana, 20-22 May 2015. This presentation was made by Jeroen Huisinn and it presents the African Soil Research for Development. ©FAO: http://www.fao.org

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African Soil Research for Development
(SR4D) / Soil Health Platform
…aligning efforts and resources towards improved productivity and sustainable
management of soil resources
E. Jeroen Huising (PhD)
Samuel A. Mesele
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria

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Background
• The UN General Assembly has declared 2015 the International Year of
Soils under the motto ‘Healthy Soils for a Healthy Life’.
• IITA intentions to establish a pan-African platform for SR4D to assure
that ISFM features prominently in the agenda of research and
development organizations..

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Why do we need a Soil Health Platform? …
Advances have been made since the Abuja declaration, but ….
• Limited advances made in the past few decades on improving
production and productivity in Africa
• Progressive degradation of soil and land resources coupled with climate
change.
• There is a new awareness of the threat of land and soil degradation, but
little has been achieved in reversing this trend.
Soil fertility / natural resource status
Time
Time
Productivity
Slash and burn system

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How to address Non-responsive soils?
Site specific problems require site specific solutions
Sometimes fertilizer is not enough…

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Integrated solutions to soil fertility management…
• On soil health, ISFM principles and practices, there is little information
available and shared
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
0 50 100 150 200
Fertilizer N applied (kg N ha-1
)
Yield(kgha-1
)
0
20
40
60
80
N-AE(kg(kgN)-1
)
grain yield
AE
(a)
…. to increase the agronomic
efficiency of fertilizer use!!!!

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So many views, so many voices…
• Contradictory messages reaching policy- and decision-makers due
to different opinions on soil fertility issues.
• ….. not one solution! Let us see the evidence (M&E) and move
forward. Calls for a better coordination of efforts and more
cohesive approach.
??

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Main Goal
To bring national and international partners together for consolidated
efforts and synergies in closing the yield gap and improve soil health in
the West and Central Africa sub region
Specific Objectives
i. Exchange ideas and views to reach common understanding on the SR4D
priorities that leads to a shared SR4D agenda,
ii. Share and make better use of data and information to generate the
knowledge and insight in best ISFM technologies and solutions for varying
farming conditions and biophysical environment,
iii. Better share knowledge and information for a more effective dissemination of
ISFM technologies and uptake of more sustainable soil management
practices.
Engage
Learn
Deliver

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The Four Pillars of the SR4D Platform
There are four pillars that support the work of the SR4D platform and the
services that it will provide. These are:
• Knowledge management
• Data and information management
• Network management
• Communication

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Knowledge Management
• The knowledge in case of the SR4D platform refers to:
• Knowledge of soil health constraints,
• Knowledge of technologies and practices (ISFM and SLM ) to address
these constraints,
• Knowledge of delivery mechanisms to African farmers
1
Information Product
+
Knowledge generation
+
Human resource

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• A forum for discussion on identifying knowledge gaps and priorities for
research for development.
• Sharing knowledge : Organize events, conferences seminars etc.; improve
access to knowledge products (develop, share, link, establish repository);
collect intelligence on knowledge sources (partners, projects, persons)
• Generation of new knowledge – learning: Unraveling the interactions
between the germplasm, the environment and management; providing
evidence that ISFM actually works.
Knowledge Management…1
ISFM = f [G × E × M]

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• Use of existing data, safekeeping of important data sets, improve access to
data and information, proper documentation of data;
• We can do so much better in collecting relevant data, making use of our
partners, providing harmonized data collection procedures and templates.
Data and Information Management2
We can do
better than this

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Data and Information Management2
Soil health Platform
Variety trials, nutrient omission trials,
nutrient response trials, diagnostic trials,
long-term trials and others
Agronomic protocols for various
crops & harmonized data
templates
Data Upload & Agronomic protocols, Meta-database
Links to websites &
information
products
Spreadsheet
Uploads &
metadata
Shared
Community Data
Public Data
Sources/Data
storage in the
cloud
Use of existing
data sharing
platforms
OUR SOLUTION

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Network and Partnership Arrangement and Mgt.
AfNET
WASHC
FARA
E&SA
CSHC
SSA-
GSP
3
AfSIS

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Network and Partnership Arrangement and Mgt.,…
IFDC
Universities
Private
sectors
Policy
makers..for solutions towards
balanced nutrition of the
various crops
3
Test kitsLocal
condition
Labs
Test kits used on the field

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Communication and Information Services
• Communication serves various purposes of the SR4D platform:
• Engage research and development professionals (organizations) in
discussion on the design, role, objectives outputs and products of
the SR4D platform,
• Inform about events, provide links to websites with relevant
information on related initiatives, data and information sources
4

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Communication and Information Services…4
Fertilizer recommendations
• Address key nutrient deficiencies
• Depend on soil type and region
• Depend on target yield increase
• Target the steep part of the response curve
• Encourage combination with organic inputs

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Communication and Information Services…
• Advocate for better alignment of efforts and investment in soil
research for development.
• The platform also has to engage in and respond to discussions held
within other fora and within the social media.
• Provide feedback and inform on the impact of improved knowledge
and information sharing (advocacy and advisory role the platform)
4

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Launch of the Platform
• Event: 7th international conference of the African Soil Science Society
(ASSS)
• Theme: Soil fertility management for sustainable agricultural
intensification in West and Central Africa
• Date: 25 October to 1 November 2015
• Venue: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
• Conference fee: US$250 per participant (US$100 for students).
• Abstract submission: open till 1st June, 2015.

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• For further details or to express your interest,
• Please contact:
Dr E. Jeroen Huising
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Tel: +234 700 8004482 ext: 2741| USA tel: +1 201 6336094 ext: 2741
Mobile: +234 803 9784428
Email: j.huising@cigar.org (subject: WACA Soil Conference)
Launch of the Platform…

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Yes, it’s possible!
Together we can make it happen

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…in partnership we conquer the problem of soil fertility