Insight Brief: The Imperative for Strengthening Soil Information Systems in Africa: Reflections and Key Insights from Practice

Policy Rationale for Strengthening Soil Information Systems in Africa

Africa’s challenges in food security, nutrition, and climate change are intricately linked to soil health and therefore require a robust and coordinated regional response. A key step in this response is the establishment of SISs at the national, regional and continental levels. Setting the foundation for strengthening SISs, the Nairobi Declaration calls for:

• Robust SISs to support the sustainable management of Africa’s soil and efficient fertilizer use 

• Targeted agronomic recommendations for 70% of smallholder farmers by 2034

• Standardized soil analytical services to ensure they are available and affordable to smallholder farmers 

• Strengthened collaborative research and extension systems to tackle soil health challenges and improve the quality of support to smallholder farmers - requiring accurate and timely soil data

• Shared infrastructure for the exchange of knowledge and technologies necessitating harmonized policies, enhanced private sector engagement, and strengthened research and extension services

• Systematic soil health monitoring systems aligned with existing CAADP monitoring and evaluation systems, to track progress, including developing continent-wide metrics for measuring soil health