African Soil Research for Development (SR4D) / Soil Health ...€¦ · A member of CGIAR consortium • Use of existing data, safekeeping of important data sets, improve access to

A member of CGIAR consortium www.iita.org

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


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..


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

Prod

uctiv

ity

Slash and burn system


How to address Non-responsive soils?

Site specific problems require site specific solutions

Sometimes fertilizer is not enough…


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)

Yie

ld (

kg h

a-1

)

0

20

40

60

80

N-A

E (kg

(kg N

) -1)

grain yield

AE

(a)

…. to increase the agronomic efficiency of fertilizer use!!!!


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.

??


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


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


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


• 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]


• 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 Management 2

We can do better than this


Data and Information Management 2

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


Network and Partnership Arrangement and Mgt.

AfNET

WASHC

FARA

E&SA CSHC

SSA-GSP

3

AfSIS


Network and Partnership Arrangement and Mgt.,…

IFDC

Universities

Private sectors

Policy makers ..for solutions towards

balanced nutrition of the various crops

3

Test kits Local condition

Labs

Test kits used on the field


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


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


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


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.


• 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: [email protected] (subject: WACA Soil Conference)

Launch of the Platform…


Yes, it’s possible!

Together we can make it happen


…in partnership we conquer the problem of soil fertility

Documents

African Soil Research for Development (SR4D) / Soil Health ...€¦ · A member of CGIAR consortium • Use of existing data, safekeeping of important data sets, improve access to