This document discusses the challenges of sustainable soil management in Africa. It notes that African soils range greatly in quality and that inappropriate land use has led to widespread degradation. Soil degradation negatively impacts agriculture, which is critical to African economies and food security. Two-thirds of arable land is degraded. Priorities to address include combating degradation, improving soil health, developing soil information systems, and building resilience. The document outlines Africa's implementation plan under the Global Soil Partnership and key activities for 2017, such as capacity building, developing soil carbon maps, and following up on the 2006 Abuja Declaration on fertilizer use.

1. Experiences and challenges of
sustainable management of
African soil
Martial Bernoux
Natural Resources Officer, FAO

2. Global Soil Partnership

3. African soil
• Diverse soil ranging from stony and shallow with
poor life sustaining capabilities to deeply
weathered soils that recycle and support large
amounts of biomass
• Inherently poor fertility
• Inappropriate land use, poor management and lack
of inputs have led to a decline in productivity, soil
erosion, salinization, and loss of vegetation
• Soil is the main resource supporting the population
and a key asset for poor individuals

4. African soil
• Agriculture accounts for 30–40 % of the region’s
GDP and employs 65–70 % of the labor force
• Smallholder farms (2 hectares or less) account for
about 80 % of all the farms in the region, and they
often include degraded land
• Almost 2/3 of arable land is degraded Yield
reduction in Africa due to past soil erosion may
range from 2 to 40%, with a mean loss of 8.2% for
the continent.

5. Status of the World’s Soil Resources
Report
• “Baseline” to track the status of the
world’s soils
• Revised version envisaged for 2020
• Global Soil Information System
Minimize further degradation of soils,
restore productivity and ESS of
degraded soils

6. Main Soil degradation Types
1. Soil erosion
2. Changes in soil organic carbon
3. Nutrient imbalance
4. Loss of soil biodiversity
5. Soil acidification
6. Waterlogging
7. Compaction
8. Soil sealing and land take
9. Soil pollution
Status of the World’s Soil Resources Report, 2015

7. Africa’s priorities
• Address soil degradation as a factor of food security.
• Implement sustainable soil management with focus on
soil health/fertility.
• Develop, update and disseminate harmonized regional
soil information.
• Establish linkages and networks for soil information.
• Address climate change and build resilience.
• Capacity building and development in all the soil
related applications.

8. AfSP Implementation Plan
• Developed to address priorities
• 5-year work plan per Pillar
• Inclusive and collaborative process
• Pillar Working Groups, Steering
Committee
• Completed Apr 2016

9. Boosting Africa’s Soils
• FAO Africa Regional Conference 2016
• Side event on High Level Discussion
for follow-up on the 2006 Abuja
Declaration “From fertilizers to
sustainable soil management”.

10. Decisions from the Side Event
1. Discuss outcomes of a comprehensive review of successes,
lessons learned, challenges and new opportunities to feed
into post-2015 strategies, which will be carried out and
disseminated by relevant interest partners
2. Update the 2006 Abuja Declaration by widening it to
exploit its link with sustainable soil management and
propose strategies to be in place in Africa by 2030 in line
with the SDGs and Malabo Implementation Strategy and
Road Map.
Proposed that a high level meeting be convened by
interested partners to:

11. Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable
Soil Management
• Accepted by last 2016 COAG
• Submitted for endorsement by FAO
Council
• Objectives:
• Present generally accepted principles to
promote SSM
• Calls for fostering and strengthening
targeted soil research
• Voluntary

13. Develop a global SOC map by
Dec 2017 as baseline
In support of SDG Indicator
15.3.1
Through support and involvement of
FAO member countries

15. Key activities for 2017
• Regional capacity building:
• Digital Soil Mapping
• Soil Doctors Programme
• Development of national SOC maps
• Development of national soil information systems in
various countries (Lesotho, Togo, Sudan) for monitoring
purposes
• High Level Meeting on follow-up to 2006 Abuja
Declaration on Fertilizers for an African Green
Revolution
• Global Symposium on SOC 21-23 March 2017
• Implementation of the VGSSM

16. Thank you