Soil scientists harmonize positions on sustainable soil management
June 7, 2015
To mark 2015 as the International Year of Soils declared by the United Nations, a consultative meeting of the African Soil Partnership (AfSP) was held at Elmina, Ghana, 20–22 May. Scientists and representatives from 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa set out and fine-tuned their positions on a five-year regional strategy for achieving food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation through sustainable soil management initiatives. The secretariat for the AfSP is held within the FAO Africa regional office in Ghana.
Soil scientists and representatives from 35 countries attended the workshop.
AfSP is part of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) instituted by FAO in 2011 to coordinate and create a unified and recognizable voice for soils and to avoid the fragmentation of efforts and waste of resources. This partnership ensures that healthy soils are maintained as required for feeding the increasing world population and meeting the needs for biomass (energy), fiber, fodder, and other products. It focuses on these five action pillars.
During the consultative meeting, discussions centered upon options for improving the performance of African soils for food and nutrition security in the region. The process will help to develop an implementation plan for each of the five action pillars of the GSP and, based on these implementation plans, a consolidated effort will be made to raise funds to enable these plans to be executed.
Following these discussions, implementation strategies compatible with the peculiar needs of the sub- Saharan African region were drafted, drawing experiences from the ideas developed by the GSP forum.
Dr Jeroen Huising, IITA’s soil scientist, together with other participants, resolved during the meeting to advocate the protection and conservation of good soils, restoration and rehabilitation of degraded soils, promotion of sustainable resource management at all levels and in all l and-use types with a focus on nutrient balance, soil conservation measures, and increases in organic matter and carbon stocks. They also developed action plans to achieve these resolutions and consolidated the AfSP by establishing a Steering Committee, in which IITA is represented. These positions are contained in the Elmina communiqué.
The identified challenges in the key sectors will receive urgent attention through this new collaboration. For IITA this is a good partnership to shape its collaboration with national institutions in Africa as far as the sustainable management of soil resources is concerned.
It is expected that this will directly contribute to achieving food and nutrition security, climate change adaptation and mitigation, provision of various ecosystem services, and sustainable economic development in sub-Saharan Africa.
For more information:
Andrea Gros, Head of Communication, IITA HQ, a.gros@cgiar.orgAbout IITAwww.iita.org
IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research-for-development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. It is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. It is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
Olamide Deborah Nwanze is a Senior Research Associate specializing in gender mainstreaming research to inform participatory and inclusive breeding, variety development, and seed systems policies regarding root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan and holds an MSc and B. Agric in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. Olamide is a fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development – Gender Responsive Agricultural Systems Policy (AWARD-GRASP) and the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT). She seeks to apply her gender-mainstreaming learnings, gender-responsive research, and policy development, and review expertise to facilitate women, youth, children, and vulnerable social group’s access to and adoption of agricultural Innovations that guarantee food, nutrition, income, and livelihood security in Africa. Her current roles include mentoring research fellows, development of guides and training manuals, implementation and adaptation of gender frameworks and tools, value chain actors’ engagement as citizen science partners, policy review and redesign, data management, and analysis. Her current research explores mixed methods and participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to capture and highlight gender dynamics, needs, preferences, and challenges stakeholders face within the agricultural livelihood value chain to prioritize gender-inclusive strategies in breeding programs, policy design, and implementation.
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