{"id":18517,"date":"2026-06-20T13:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/new-partnership-to-strengthen-soil-health-and-secure-livelihoods-for-1-5-million-sahelian-farmers-2\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:45:26","slug":"new-partnership-to-strengthen-soil-health-and-secure-livelihoods-for-1-5-million-sahelian-farmers-2","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/new-partnership-to-strengthen-soil-health-and-secure-livelihoods-for-1-5-million-sahelian-farmers-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Nouveau partenariat pour renforcer la sant\u00e9 des sols et s\u00e9curiser les moyens de subsistance de 1,5 million d'agriculteurs sah\u00e9liens"},"content":{"rendered":"IBADAN, NIGERIA \u2014 f\u00e9vrier 26, 2026 \u2014 The Soil Values Program and the Regional Hub for Fertilizer and Soil Health for West Africa and the Sahel today announced a formal partnership. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to coordinate soil health interventions across West Africa and the Sahel. The partnership will enhance collaboration, minimize duplication of effort, and deliver lasting impact in the region.\n\nThis agreement unites the Regional Hub\u2019s technical consortium with the Soil Values Program\u2019s implementation platform in the Sahel. Consortium partners include IITA, IFDC, OCP Africa, APNI, UM6P, and ISRIC.\n\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-34361\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7E3A9042.jpg\" alt=\"New Partnership to Strengthen Soil Health and Secure Livelihoods for 1.5 Million Sahelian Farmers\" width=\"1200\" height=\"696\" \/>\n\nThe collaboration aims to restore 2 million hectares of degraded land and strengthen the livelihoods of 1.5 million smallholder farmers in the region.\n\nThe MoU was signed at IITA headquarters in Ibadan by Alain Sy Traor\u00e9, Program Director of the Soil Values Program, and Dr. Bernard Vanlauwe, Deputy Director General, Research for Development (R4D), IITA.\n\nThe partnership aligns with regional soil health frameworks, including the Lom\u00e9 Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health (2023), the Nairobi Declaration (2024), and the ECOWAS Soil Health Roadmap (2023\u20132033). It also establishes a framework to operationalize collaboration at scale.\n\nUnder the agreement, the Regional Hub will align its 20 technical functions with the Soil Values Program\u2019s nine strategic pillars. This enables integrated planning, shared data systems, and coordinated implementation across countries.\n\n\u201cI firmly believe that together we are far stronger than we are individually. This agreement deepens our collaboration and elevates our shared vision for soil health beyond individual initiatives, positioning us to drive impact at regional and global levels,\u201d said Dr. Bernard Vanlauwe, Deputy Director General, Research for Development (R4D), IITA.\n\nTo date, the Regional Hub intentionally moderated its engagement in parts of the Sahel \u2014 including Burkina Faso and Niger. The goal was to avoid overlapping with Soil Values Program activities. The MoU resolves that constraint and clarifies roles and responsibilities. Now, both initiatives can confidently expand under a coordinated approach.\n\n\u201cIn the past, we deliberately moderated the Hub\u2019s engagement in the Sahel to avoid approaching the same stakeholders with overlapping agendas. This MoU resolves that potential confusion and allows us to move forward in a coordinated and coherent manner,\u201d Dr. Vanlauwe added.\n\n\u201cThe true value of this agreement is that it establishes an official, ongoing commitment between our institutions\u2014regardless of leadership changes,\u201d said Alain Sy Traor\u00e9, Program Director, Soil Values Program.\n\nUnder the partnership, both initiatives commit to:\n<ul style=\"margin-left: 50px;\">\n \t<li>Gouvernance partag\u00e9e : Participation conjointe aux structures de leadership strat\u00e9gique et de prise de d\u00e9cision pour renforcer l'alignement et la responsabilit\u00e9.<\/li>\n \t<li>Syst\u00e8mes de donn\u00e9es unifi\u00e9s : Adopter des outils de donn\u00e9es standardis\u00e9s et activ\u00e9s par l'IA en utilisant les principes FAIR \u2014 Facilement trouvables, Accessibles, Interop\u00e9rables et R\u00e9utilisables (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). Ces outils g\u00e9n\u00e8rent des informations coh\u00e9rentes sur les sols \u00e0 travers les pays.<\/li>\n \t<li>R\u00f4les g\u00e9ographiques clairs : Le programme des valeurs du sol dirigera la mise en \u0153uvre au Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, nord du Nigeria), tandis que le Hub r\u00e9gional fournira la plateforme technique plus large \u00e0 travers l'Afrique de l'Ouest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSoutenu par une subvention de 100 millions d'euros de la Direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale de la coop\u00e9ration internationale (DGIS) des Pays-Bas, le programme Soil Values est une initiative de 10 ans (2024-2033) dirig\u00e9e par l'IFDC en partenariat avec le SNV et l'Universit\u00e9 et centre de recherche de Wageningen (WUR).\n\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-34362\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/New-Partnership-to-Strengthen-Soil-Health-and-Secure-Livelihoods-for-1.5-Million-Sahelian-Farmers.jpg\" alt=\"New Partnership to Strengthen Soil Health and Secure Livelihoods for 1.5 Million Sahelian Farmers\" width=\"982\" height=\"504\" \/>\n\nBy leveraging over \u20ac300 million in private and development capital, the program aims to shift soil health efforts from traditional aid models to sustainable investment. Seventy percent of implementation will be delivered by local partners. This ensures ownership, resilience, and lasting outcomes. Performance-based assessments guide annual contracts and continued engagement with partners delivering results.\n\n\u201cOne of the reasons I am particularly proud of this program is the strength of our knowledge partners. Soil health transformation is complex and multi-dimensional, but with partners of this calibre, we have built a foundation that gives us both credibility and a strong pathway to success,\u201d said Alain Sy Traor\u00e9, Program Director, Soil Values Program.\n\nThe partnership will focus on four strategic areas of collaboration:\n<ol style=\"margin-left: 50px;\">\n \t<li>Partage de donn\u00e9es et de connaissances : Outils partag\u00e9s, tableaux de bord, ensembles de donn\u00e9es et publications conjointes pour renforcer la prise de d\u00e9cision fond\u00e9e sur des donn\u00e9es probantes.<\/li>\n \t<li>Renforcement des capacit\u00e9s : Formation harmonis\u00e9e et soutien coordonn\u00e9 aux institutions nationales et aux syst\u00e8mes de vulgarisation.<\/li>\n \t<li>Engagement politique : Contributions coordonn\u00e9es aux dialogues sur les politiques et plaidoyer conjoint pour l'investissement dans la sant\u00e9 des sols.<\/li>\n \t<li>Mobilisation des ressources : Collecte de fonds conjointe et engagement des donateurs pour une plus grande \u00e9chelle et un plus grand impact.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<strong>\u00c0 propos du programme Valeurs des sols<\/strong>\n\nFunded by the Netherlands Directorate General for International Cooperation (D.G.I.S), Soil Values Program \u200b\u200baddresses persistent soil fertility challenges in the Sahel region, namely Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, northern Nigeria, with strategic countries: Ghana and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Soil Values Program \u200b\u200baims to strengthen soil fertility and agricultural productivity, in the face of climate change, with a focus on regional connectivity and strategic interventions. The program aspires to create a lasting impact on desertification and land degradation, landscape management &#8211; watersheds through participatory planning, effectively integrating soil, water and biodiversity. Soil Values Program \u200b\u200bplans to promote financial incentive instruments that encourage farmers to invest in soil health through the adoption of sustainable soil management practices.\u00a0 The Soil Values Program is being implemented over 10 years (2024-2033), led by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), in consortium with SNV and Wageningen University and Research (WUR), as well as knowledge partners such as AGRA, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), ISRIC \u2013 World Soil Information, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).\n\n<strong>Au sujet du hub r\u00e9gional<\/strong>\n\nLe Hub R\u00e9gional pour les Engrais et la Sant\u00e9 des Sols pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest et le Sahel est une initiative collaborative qui r\u00e9unit des partenaires de premier plan dans les domaines de la recherche, du d\u00e9veloppement et du secteur priv\u00e9 pour proposer des solutions scientifiques pour une agriculture durable. H\u00e9berg\u00e9 par l'Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale (IIAT) et soutenu par des organisations telles que le Centre International pour le D\u00e9veloppement des Engrais (IFDC), OCP Africa, l'Institut Africain de Nutrition V\u00e9g\u00e9tale (APNI), l'Universit\u00e9 Polytechnique Mohammed VI (UM6P), l'Acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration de l'Impact de la Recherche Climatique du CGIAR pour l'Afrique (AICCRA) et le Centre International de R\u00e9f\u00e9rence et d'Information sur les Sols (ISRIC), le Hub s'appuie sur les donn\u00e9es, les analyses de sol et les technologies d'engrais pour am\u00e9liorer la productivit\u00e9, l'efficacit\u00e9 et la r\u00e9silience des syst\u00e8mes alimentaires r\u00e9gionaux. Gr\u00e2ce au soutien financier de la Banque Mondiale par le biais du projet AICCRA du CGIAR et d'OCP Africa, le Hub s'engage \u00e0 traduire la recherche en solutions concr\u00e8tes pour les agriculteurs et les d\u00e9cideurs politiques, favorisant ainsi la sant\u00e9 des sols \u00e0 long terme, la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 alimentaire et le d\u00e9veloppement durable pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest et le Sahel.\n\n<strong>Relations m\u00e9dias<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Ilerioluwa Oladipupo<\/strong>\nI.Oladipupo@cgiar.org\n\n<strong>Evariste Gbaguidi<\/strong>\nsoilvalues@ifdc.org","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Soil Values Program and the Regional Hub for Fertilizer and Soil Health for West Africa and the Sahel today announced a formal partnership. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to coordinate soil health interventions across West Africa and the Sahel.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":18518,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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