Summary

A soil information system (SIS) is a convenient online infrastructure for managing and sharing soil data and information. Accessible soil information is a valuable resource in guiding investment decisions in the agricultural and environmental sectors. It is also crucial for sustainable management of the soil resource. Without adequate accessible soil information, agricultural investment decisions often end up with uncertain outcomes. In Africa, where there are more than 30 million smallholder farmers who manage over 70% of the agri-food systems and implement most of the agreements on agriculture, lack of accessible soil information imply serious implications on the agriculture performance on the continent. There are presently no more than five countries in Africa with accessible national soil information systems (NSIS) online, which is an indication of the dearth of accessible soil information at the table of investment decisions in the continent. Similarly, there is no SIS in any of the eight economic communities in Africa. This situation led the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) to consider development of SIS as one of the pillar actions for improving soil health and agricultural productivity in Africa. The present document identified necessary steps to help Africa to kickstart the development of accessible and usable SIS on the continent. The document outlined requirements for establishing SIS, which include availability of quality soil data, availability of reliable internet services, adequate policy support, sustainable budgetary allocation, sustained demand for soil data and information, appropriate SIS design, available institutional and technical capacity to maintain and operate the SIS, adherence to standards, supportive innovative research and development, institutionalized SIS management, and a strong stakeholder partnership. Most of these requirements were not met by the previous attempts to establish SIS in Africa, which contributed to their failure and consequent low number of online SIS on the continent. This document has discussed strategies to overcome the challenges in meeting these SIS requirements in Africa and suggested a three-phase implantation framework to guide supporting activities towards sustainable SIS. The framework incorporates an initial phase of infrastructure development to lay the foundation for subsequent SIS development and operationalization. It envisages monitoring the progress of SIS development using the proposals set by the SIA Action Plan and the CAADP monitoring system.