Land, Soil, Crop Information Services for Climate-Smart Agriculture at Africa Fertilizer & Soil Health Summit
Date: April 15, 2024 Author: Silvana Summa(ISRIC)
Land, Soil, and Crop Information Services for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Africa project will be presented at the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit in Kenya on 7-9 May 2024.
The Land, Soil, and Crop Information Services (LSC-IS) for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Africa project will be presented at the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7-9 May 2024.
The summit, organised by the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Environment (DARBE) of the African Union, in collaboration with AUDA-NEPAD, RECs, and partners, will discuss various issues around fertiliser and soil health in Africa and the implications on the agricultural, health, and social well-being of the continent.
Side events will be held during the Summit to cover technical and policy topics related to soil health and fertilisers in Africa.
On 8 May, 14:00-15:30, the LSC-IS team will present at the side event “Monitoring soil health and soil health investments at different scales” organised by the European Commission, ISRIC, and CIFOR-ICRAF. Location side event: Amphitheatre Hall (2nd floor).
This side event will discuss the current and upcoming state of soil health and how to evaluate soil health regionally and at a continental scale using the existing soil data. It will also cover the indicators and thresholds that can be used to define soil health based on the existing soil data. Additionally, the event will showcase the latest developments in monitoring and measuring soil health at different scales. It will highlight the significance of soil information systems and soil health dashboards in monitoring soil health and the impacts of soil health policies and investments.
The LSC-IS presentation will focus on national soil information systems and will be presented by Dr. Michael Okoti from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Dr Michael Okoti holds a PhD in Environmental Science. He is the Assistant Director at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the Kenya Project Manager for the LSC-IS project, and the Kenya Project Manager for the Soils4Africa project.
The LSC-IS project aims to develop sustainable land, soil, and crop information hubs in national agricultural research organisations in East Africa to enhance the effectiveness of national Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems and contribute to rural transformation and climate-smart agriculture. The data hubs are co-developed with national agricultural research organisations in Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda. They facilitate data access across different themes, sources, and scales to support stakeholders’ decision-making on soil fertility and soil and water management at national, county, and local levels.
About KALRO
KALRO is a corporate body created under the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Act of 2013 to establish a framework for the coordination of agricultural research in Kenya that is dynamic, innovative, responsive and well-coordinated. KALRO is a partner of the LSC-IS project. For more information visit www.kalro.org. Contact: Michael Okoti.
About LSC-IS
The LSC-IS project is developing information hubs in national agricultural research organisations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. The project is funded by the European Union through its DeSIRA program and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a contribution from ISRIC-World Soil Information. Implementation partners include Wageningen University and Research (WUR), ISRIC-World Soil Information, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya Agriculture & Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) with World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and German Aerospace Center (DLR). For more information visit https://lsc-hubs.org/
