A Globally Integrated Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) Project Launch and Workshop 12-16 January 2009, Nairobi, Kenya

Summary
Fifty-six scientists from 16 countries, Ambassadors and or their representatives, Kenya’s Minister of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, Donors, high ranking Kenya government officials, development partners, as well as local and international media met at ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya to launch the African Soil Information Service (AfSIS) and conduct its first workshop.

AfSIS is a pioneering tool that will address some of the pressing issues facing sub-Saharan Africa, such as food security, environmental degradation, and climate change by producing a web-based freely accessible digital soil map and an accompanying information system. AfSIS was launched with the Kenyan Minister of Planning, the secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, and other key actors affirming the project’s significance. A day-long field trip to a severely degraded site in western Kenya examined massive soil erosion and sedimentation into a tributary of Lake Victoria, illustrating the importance of AfSIS to offer suggestions that could assist prevent the impact of soil degradation on the lake and the general environment.

Constructive working group sessions on each objective outlined and progress to date. These include: decisions on appropriate data model to use for storage and retrieval of AfSIS data; development of the web-based dissemination as well as access applications; completing technical manuals for soil sampling, laboratory analysis, modeling scenarios and predicting soil properties; design of field management trials; and the development of strategic collaborations with international as well as local partners to disseminate and create impact from the project products. AfSIS operational committee comprising the Principal Investigators as well as the Project Director-agreed on a user-friendly software for managing and communicating between objectives and for reporting milestones to the Gates Foundation and AGRA.

This report is the product of plenary sessions and several working groups. It also includes a follow-up meeting held on January 23 in Kisumu attended by: Markus Walsh, Keith Shepherd, Jeroen Huising, Pedro Sanchez, Leigh Winowiecki, Peter Okoth, Sonya Ahamed and Tor Vagen. The detailed workshop agenda is available from p.okoth@cgiar.org. A CD with all the presentations is available and will be distributed to all participants and others who so request.

Plenary Sessions
Introduction to soil health surveillance and ecological footprint
Several scientists form the AfSIS scientific team presented several topical presentations on this subject matter. The soil health surveillance framework will be used to quantitatively assess the impact of land-management on food security and ecosystem services. Another innovative approach is to calculate the ecological footprint of a country or region to assess the land and water requirements of the human population. Across the globe and also in sub-Saharan Africa the ecological footprint is increasing, and so is the need for a functioning natural resource base to support human activities. Management strategies aimed to maximize resilience and buffer the ecosystem must be based on statistically rigorous, spatially explicit soil and ecosystem data -as will be collected in the AfSIS project. International initiatives that will benefit from AfSIS products Leaders from the international community presented projects operating in Africa and their proposed linkages with AfSIS. These include AGRA’s soil health initiative, the European Commission’s atlas of African soils and the working group on digital soil mapping of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) relevant to all AfSIS Objectives. Specific to Objective 2 (cyber-infrastructure) are CH2MHILL’s new AGCommons project to synthesize geospatial technology for agriculture, and CIESIN’s wide range of ongoing geospatial projects with other disciplines.

Many collaborations link more directly to Objective 4 (soil management options): Harvest Choice, NUANCES, Sasakawa, Millennium Villages, CGIAR centers and the International Nitrogen Initiative. Stan Wood from IFPRI enthusiastically stated that “AfSIS has the ability to transform the contribution of soil science to rural development.” IFPRI’s Harvest Choice project is an important collaborator, as AfSIS can contribute to its objectives with spatially explicit data to improve cropping system simulations, extrapolation of data to the national scale, and targeting land-management interventions. AfSIS is therefore off to a good start in working partnerships. Public Launch A high-profile and well-attended public event to launch AfSIS was held at ICRAF Headquarters. Supportive comments were provided by Wycliffe Oparanya, Kenya’s Minister for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030; Wilson Songa, Agriculture Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture of Kenya; Pedro Sanchez, AfSIS Project Director; Nteranya Sanginga, Director of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF-CIAT); Namanga Ngongi, President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and Yvonne Pinto, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Minister Oparanya commended project collaborators, speaking on the importance of this project to address issues of land management and food security, not just for Kenya but for the entire continent. Further, he added that this project will fill a large information gap as there is insufficient information on soils to help farmers maximize use of land or for agronomists and extension agents to plan and develop policies for improved soil management. Other speakers discussed the importance of the initiative and the role of African scientists in developing the methods and protocols that will be used to create a global digital soil map. The event received large publicity. A summary of media coverage is at the end of this report.

Field trip
The field trip, led by Markus Walsh, was designed to maximize interaction among participants and discuss the impacts of soil management on watersheds and human populations. The 35 participants traced the Nyando River from Ahero, East of Kisumu, through the Katuk-Oyedo massive gully erosion sites and finally to Lake Victoria. The gullies at Katuk-Odeyo expose 15-meter profiles of Lake Victoria sediments. The poverty of the dwellers was extreme. The strata show evidence of two distinct high levels of Lake Victoria and large colluvial and alluvial events. The group discussed how land-use and agricultural management affects the water quality of the lake and its tributaries, specifically related to sedimentation. Discussions focused on how AfSIS can help identify and target these fragile environments and how to develop conservation measures before soil degradation occurs. Community-led land rehabilitation initiatives were visited to observe their adaptation interventions, including gully rehabilitation with natural vegetation in Kalacha and an agroforestry and horticulture initiative with small-scale water harvesting in Koala. Fieldtrip participants observed and conducted the field sampling protocol for AfSIS, including soil sampling and vegetation surveys. Markus Walsh demonstrated the spectral analysis of the soil samples that were collected. The tables were turned when the Kenyan field technicians actually taught eminent soil scientist how to carry out the characterization of sentinel sites. One of the top soil scientists commented that Africa was leading the way in an approach methodology that rich countries are now planning to follow. The fieldtrip demonstrated the urgency and importance of the AfSIS project.

Objective One: Global Consortium
Establish the Global Digital Soil Map Consortium that will support the Africa Soil Information Service by developing uniform methods, building African technical capacity, monitoring and evaluation, and securing additional funding to map the rest of the world. Overview The issues raised in the 1968 Science special issue on food security are still on the forefront of the research agenda in 2009. Traditional soil maps are often not at an appropriate scale, are static, and consist of polygons (map units). Hence, in December 2006, GlobalSoilMap.net was initiated to produce a global digital soil map based on functional soil properties - not soil classes. On-Going Work and Progress to Date The duties of the soil legacy detective were discussed and include: to conduct an inventory of all soil legacy data; develop technical specifications for the collection, interpretation and quality control of legacy data; and assess the potential usefulness of legacy data acquisition. Two action points are formulated: 1) the need for a high-level letter requesting all agencies/organizations/universities to release their soil data for Africa and contribute to AfSIS; 2) the need for AfSIS to link with the JRC’s initiative to develop an African Soil Bureau Network similar to the European Soils Bureau Network. It was determined that the legacy detective of AfSIS will develop technical specifications in a manual outlining the quality control and the collection and use of legacy data; this manual will be submitted for peer review and endorsement to the IUSS Working Group on Digital Soil Mapping. A data model will be developed and decided on for both AfSIS and GlobalSoilMap.net. This model must be capable to handle all potential queries, adequately store all data (including spectra), be adaptable, and compatible with other spatial models in for example GEOSS. The point of contact for evaluating existing data models - before the legacy data detective is hired – is Alfred Hartemink. The Australian CSIRO data model will be used for a start and a small expert working group will be formed. The group will meet in New York after the inauguration of GlobalSoilMap.net to adapt and improve the data model. This two-day working group meeting will be organized by Sonya Ahamed and Alfred Hartemink. In addition, a high-profile policy paper on GlobalSoilMap.net will be written, and an outline for the paper was proposed similar to other global initiatives.

Objective Two: Cyberinfrastructure Create data management systems for the Internet-based African Soil Information Service and the Global Soil Information Service by expanding existing cyber infrastructure for the global effort and operate it in SSA, through information system design, database implementation, web services, data publishing, and custom tool development. Overview This objective is intended to create a workable, transparent, open source and open standard based system for data capture, error checking, storage, updating, dissemination, and analysis. The web-based system will ingest, update, search, and retrieve available data on soil properties and land management recommendations. In addition, it will provide data downloads and other forms of distribution. An important component will be defining users, use cases, and resources, namely, how users will access the system. These questions are especially relevant in Africa, considering issues such as connectivity, access to technology, and the digital divide. Efforts must be made to go beyond making scientific data available to scientists, such as developing tools for user groups will be using different resources – computers, cell phones, and smart phones - to access data. On-Going Work and Progress to Date An intranet site has been created to ease communication. In addition, use case definitions and system requirements are being developed and discussed. Developing use cases will require and identification of the information need. These efforts must also include consideration of how user groups will access data. Other upcoming work includes the development of web user interfaces as later steps of the project, maintenance and operations of the data system, and capacity building. We have an operating website, http://www.AfricaSoil.net Current efforts are geared towards developing a data model is for LEGACY DATA. This data model is expected to harmonize existing and historical soil data across the globe including Africa. The data model for collecting spectral as well as land variables in the 60 AfSIS sentinel sites is already developed and available electronically for internal project use as AfSIS explores the different use cases and what kind of access will be suitable for different beneficiaries and users of the AfSIS products. The working group meeting in February in NYC is specifically to develop that the LEGACY DATA models.

Objective Three: Digital Soil Map Develop digital soil maps and a establish soil health surveillance system in SSA, by: setting-up data, metadata, case definitions, spatial sampling and interpretation standards, acquiring, digitizing and spectrally characterizing soil legacy data; assembling, processing and interpreting remote sensing data and existing national soil maps, collecting and analyzing soil health data from (at least) 60 continentally representative sentinel sites, and generate high resolution digital maps of soil functional properties for 18.1 million km2 of SSA, including soil degradation status and biophysical and socioeconomic risk factors.

Overview
Several diagnostic objectives were presented during the workshop, including providing tools and data on key soil problems to aid development decisions by a variety of groups, including farm communities and international donors. On-going work and progress to date An important on-going effort is the establishment and instrumentation of three regional labs in Tanzania, Malawi and Mali. These labs will be fitted with NIR-spectrophotometers and other necessary equipment for preparation and analysis of the soil samples. Discussions focused on the use of these laboratories for the training and capacity building of AfSIS partners, including AGRA. On-going work includes the development and improvement of the statistical interpretation of the NIR-MIR spectra in the ICRAF laboratory, led by Keith Shepherd. Keith presented data from spectral analysis using Fourier-transform mid-infrared diffusive spectra on 971 soil samples from the ISRIC soil database. His group has made serious contributions regarding the application of partial-least squares regression of soil properties. These advancements will be applied to the AfSIS soil samples. Tor Vagen presented on-going work regarding the AfSIS sentinel site framework with specific advancements on AfSIS sampling scheme, primary measurements & existing databases, and remote sensing covariates (Landsat, MODIS, SRTM, etc.). Tor in the process of seamlessly stitching the most up-to-date data layers of the African continent, a feat in itself. Markus Walsh presented on-going work on the multilevel models and prediction frameworks to be utilized by AfSIS with a case study of the sub-Saharan African soil data from the ISRIC database. Walsh demonstrated this modeling framework from their proof-of-concept ICRAF-UNEP project in Mali and western Kenya mapping carbon deficits and the influence of land management on carbon storage across the landscape. A consensus emerged that NIR and MIR spectroscopy will be utilized in the global consortium.

Objective Four: Soil Management Recommendations
Provide evidence-based, spatially explicit soil management recommendations to national research and extension providers and services of the countries involved. This will be accomplished by the development of: norms and standards for locally appropriate soil management practices; protocols for demonstrations and testing best-bet soil management practices at sentinel sites; collection and meta-analysis of literature and case-based soil management practices; installing and monitoring additional field trials at sentinel sites, modeling all of the above, including expert systems to assist the development of soil management recommendations by national institutes.

Overview and Progress to Date
The objective is to develop and test a decision support framework from existing experimental data in Africa (legacy data) held by African scientists supplemented by new data to be collected from five African countries (i.e. Tanzania, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria and Kenya) to provide evidence-based spatially explicit soil management recommendations---both related to integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and interventions to overcome physical land degradation. It initially will consist of three main steps: 1. Legacy data. The first effort is to assemble the SSA experimental evidence to provide the meta database and actual datasets for analysis and synthesis. Legacy data on soil fertility and physical land degradation management trials will be collected and compiled from existing TSBF-AfNet scientists, from African Universities and researchers; specifically data collected for diagnostic analysis and experimentation data on integrated soil fertility management and other soil segregated soil fertility management trials. Data sources include existing syntheses and published data, unpublished data, and data from organizations such as TSBF, AFNET, NARS, FAO, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ICRAF, IFDC and other international centers. 2. Diagnostic trials will be conducted at the 60 sentinel sites, and will divide them into responsive and non-responsive sites to ISFM. The diagnostic trials, which intend to relate soil properties and spectral characteristics to crop productivity and ecosystem services, will build on soil information generated by Objective 3 at sentinel sites. Existing sentinel sites will be used, to employ a statistically rigorous sampling design including responsive and non-responsive soils. Additional sites will also be proposed. 3. Soil management experiments to validate the decision support framework at high-priority sites where food insecurity and/or land degradation are rampart. Examples of such sites would be those indicated by NARS partners, including appropriate AFNET sites and the Millennium Villages. Sites will be located within the SSA ISFM impact zones in West, East and Southern Africa as identified by AGRA and TSBF. The ISFM trials, intend to develop recommendations that are relevant to farmer conditions and management practices.

The following aspects will be assessed:
• Classification into responsive and non-responsive sites
• Nutrient limiting productivity of main cereal crops and farming systems
• Influence of soil physical properties and water use on crop response to nutrient inputs
• Extent to which other yield limiting factors affect crop response to crop productivity – such as weed infestation
• Optimal and standardized recommended practices in relation to cropping system

The AfSIS database will provide soil information, environmental covariates, pedotransfer functions, and spatial models as well as soil health status. The socio-economic database will aid with problem identification and will use the extensive biophysical and socioeconomic survey data from the Millennium Villages as appropriate. Opportunities to collaborate with Harvest Choice for rapid diagnosis of nutrient and physical constraints will be pursued, as well as close linkages with NUANCES and the International Nitrogen Initiative.Together, these will help determine a diagnostic case description and evidence based soil management recommendations.

Objective Five: Serving the End User Build capacity, serve end users, monitoring and evaluation, and management support. End users will include AGRA (top priority), national research organizations and extension providers, CGIAR centers, UN organizations, NARS, NGO’s, donor agencies, private sector companies, other research projects, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and of African governments. Overview AfSIS will interact intensively with national programs and a range of end user groups (in Tanzania, Mali, and Malawi where regional laboratories will be developed as well as Kenya and Nigeria). There is a possibility that AGRA may provide similar support to other SSA countries.

African technical capacity will be developed principally in the field at the sentinel sites and at soil management sites, including postgraduate supervision and training workshops. Soil information will be used for the adoption of management practices by stakeholders. This information will contribute to better management and environmental services, capacity building, outreach and recommendation for national and international policy recommendations. There is a need, though, to address local realities. The information availed to farmers must be complete and include: soil information, farming risks, technology, markets, climate, credit management, and so on. AfSIS must respond to the interests and concerns of end users. This will require strong, integrated partnerships. In addition, information must be disseminated effectively. To this end, impact-oriented dissemination will be utilized. This will require the identification of possible end users and the creation of appropriate mechanisms for the various end users. On-Going Work and Progress to Date Work has started on defining and identifying end users and use cases, evaluating the dissemination of AfSIS information, creating partnerships required by AfSIS, and developing impact assessments of AfSIS. On the first, key questions to be asked include how to target and capture end users, which tools will be employed to do this, which soil variables are most relevant, and which decisions can be made from AfSIS information.

The methodology employed to identify use cases will include: identifying target beneficiaries, identifying possible thematic entry points, thematically stratifying beneficiaries, hierarchically structuring beneficiaries, and preparing questionnaires and interviews that are relevant for each level of analysis. Another important step will be to conduct consultative meetings, national workshops, and surveys to determine how best to reach the myriad end users. Further, plans must be made to promote the content, through information campaigns and centers and partnership, among other means. Project Management Project management was included in Objective 5 in the proposals, but it is obviously a separate activity and will be reported separately. As the grantee organization, CIAT-TSBF has full authority, responsibility and accountability for the coordination of AfSIS and decided to do so by appointing Pedro Sanchez as AfSIS Project Director in his capacity as CIAT-TSBF Adjunct Senior Scientist. Sanchez reports to the TSBF Director (Nteranya Sanginga) on all AfSIS matters and will be assisted by a Chief of Operations (Wanjiku Kiragu) who reports to him on AfSIS matters. Alison Rose, Andrew Miller Leigh Winowiecki and Mary Pasquince will assist the director from the Lamont Campus at Columbia University.

The five Principal Investigators (Alfred Hartemink for Objective 1, Sonya Ahamed for Objective 2, Markus Walsh for Objective 3, Jeroen Huising for Objective 4 and Peter Okoth for Objective 5) report to the AfSIS Project Director on AfSIS matters. Markus Walsh acts as the local facilitator among the five PI’s. The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) functions will also be included in Project Management, and the M&E officer will report to the AfSIS director. The governance structure consists of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), and Operations Committee (OPS) and AfSIS Country Stakeholders Committees for the five initial collaborating countries. It is anticipated that the GlobalSoilMap.net Consortium will have a governance body, and that will be developed in the Consortium Agreement. Overview and Progress to Date All the positions identified above (project director and principal investigators for each objective are in place. The chief of operations will start February 1. The M&E officer position has been shortlisted and recruitment is expected in weeks. Most other senior positions have been recruited except for the soil scientist positions for southern Africa and for East Africa and the three positions of Objective 1 because ISRIC requires a signed subgrant before they can advertise. The resulting team, including the node leaders for North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eurasia, East Asia and Oceania form quite a formidable and enthusiastic team. During the January 25 follow-up meeting participants developed a user-friendly software for managing and communicating between objectives and for reporting milestones to the Gates Foundation and AGRA. It is being tested now, and Wanjiku will use it.

List of Participants Name Institution/Address Email Telephone/Cellphone

Abdoul Karim Traore
Scientist, Institut d’Economie Rurale,
BP 258 Rue Mohamed V Bamako,
Mali abdoul_karim_traore@yahoo.fr +(223)20 23 19 05/ +(223) 66 79 11 41

Alfred Hartemink
Soil Scientist, ISRIC - World Soil Information, P.O. Box 353, 6700 AJ Wageningen, The Netherlands alfred.hartemink@wur.nl +31 317 471 713/+31615834108

Alison Rose Earth Institute at Columbia University 61 Route 9W, Lamont Hall, rm. 2G Palisades, NY 10964, USA arose@ei.columbia.edu +845 680 4452

Andre Bationo Soil Health Program and Director, AGRA Office CSIR Office Complex #6 Agostino Neto Road Airport Residential Area PMB KIA 114 Airport – Accra, Ghana abationo@agra-alliance.org +233 244343529 

Anthony Esilaba Programme Officer, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 57811 - 00200 City Square , Nairobi, Kenya aoesilaba@kari.org +254 20 4183301-20/+254 722840853 

Athman Shahasi Yusuf Project Officer – Agriculture, Catholic Relief Services, Westlands P. O. Box 46975-00100 Nairobi, Kenya sathman@ke.earo.crs.org +254 020 421 0000/ +254 734979634 

Bashir Jama Director Soil Health Program, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) P.O. Box 66773 - 00800 Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya b.jama@agra-alliance.org +254 20 3675274 

Bernard Vanlauwe Scientist, CIAT - TSBF P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya b.vanlauwe@cgiar.org +254 20 7224760/+254 733801581 

Cheryl Palm Senior Research Scientist, Earth Institute at Columbia University 61 Route 9W, Lamont Hall, rm. 2G Palisades, NY 10964, USA cpalm@ei.columbia.edu +845-365-4452/+845 358 4045 

Dennis Garrity Director General, World Agro forestry Centre (ICRAF) P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya d.garrity@cgiar.org +254 20 7224106 

Emmanuel Iwuafor Lecturer, Institute for Agricultural Research, Soil Science Department, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria enoiwuafor@yahoo.com +234 8037871804 

Erick Ligeyi Litswa Computer Information Systems Assistant, UNEP, UN Avenue P. O. Box 47074, Nairobi, Kenya erick.litswa@unep.org +254 20 7624197

Ganlin Zhang Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 71 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China glzhang@issas.ac.cn +86 25 86881279/+86 13601405982

Gemma Shepherd Programme Officer, UNEP, Division of Early Warning and Assessment P.O. Box 30552 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya gemma.shepherd@unep.org +254 20 762 3282 

Generose Nziguheba Research Scientist, Earth Institute, Columbia University 61 Route 9W, Lamont Hall, Room 2G, P.O. Box 1000, Palisades, NY 10964-8000, USA gn2178@columbia.edu +1 845 6804483 

Gert Jan Veldwisch Post Doc Fellow, CIAT - TSBF, 12.5 km peg Mazowe Road, P. O. Box MP228, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe g.veldwisch@cgiar.org +258 826955898/ +263 (0) 912738591 

Grace Malindi Director of Agriculture Extension Services, Ministry of Agriculture and food Security, P.O. Box 30145 Lilongwe 3, Malawi gmalindi@gmail.com +265 1 754 049 

Haig Sawasawa GIS Expert, Total Land Care, Box 2440, Lilongwe, Malawi sawasawah@yahoo.co.uk +265 (0) 1 757 090/092 40

Hussein Mansoor Zonal Research Coordinator- Northern Zone, Selian Agriculture Research Institute, P.O. Box 6024, Tanzania hussein.mansoor@gmail.com +255 (0) 27 250 5211/+255 784262257 

Jeroen Huising Scientist, CIAT - TSBF P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya j.huising@cgiar.org +254 20 722 4772 16

Jerome Tondoh Soil Ecologist, University of Abobo-Adjame, Abidjan, BP 801, Abidjan 02 Cote d’ Ivoire tondohj@yahoo.fr +225 20304294/ 07317155/ 

John Gitau Web Mapping Specialist, SERVIR-Africa, RCMRD jgitau@rcmrd.org Skype:rcmrd_john.gitau +254-20 8560227/ 0265/1775/+254(0)722945556

Jon Hempel Director, USDA-NRCS National Geospatial Development Center, 3040 University Ave. Suite 3037 Morgantown, 26505, WV, USA jon.hempel@wv.usda.gov +304 293 9831/ +304 290 3029 

Jonas Chianu Senior Scientist – Agric. Economics CIAT – TSBF c/o ICRAF UN Avenue, Gigiri P. O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya j.chianu@cgiar.org +254 20 7224778/+254 723592162 

Joyce Jefwa Scientist, CIAT – TSBF c/o ICRAF UN Avenue, Gigiri P. O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya jjefwa@cgiar.org +254 20 7224776 11 Jubal Harpster Consultant, CH2M HILL, 364 NW 48th ST, 98017, USA

Jubal.Harpster@CH2M.com +1 425 213 7188 13 Keith Shepherd Principal Soil Scientist, World Agro forestry Centre (ICRAF) P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya k.shepherd@cgiar.org +254 20 722 4173 

Kithinji Mutunga Programme Support Officer, Food and Agriculture organization of United Nations (FAO) Nairobi, Kenya Kithinji.mutunga@fao.org +254 20 2725359/ +254 734402397 

Koala Saidou AFNET Coordinator ICRISAT, BP 12404, Burkina Faso skoala@cgiar.org +227 20 722529 / 20 722626 50 Le Deaut Cyrille Deputy of the Consular, Embassy of France, Barclay Plaza, Nairobi, Kenya Cyrille.le-deaut@diplomatic.gov.fr +254 723 337571 

Leigh Winowiecki Post Doc, Earth Institute at Columbia University, 61 Route 9W P.O. Box 1000, Palisades, 10964 New York, USA law2140@columbia.edu +845 365 8731 

Luca Montanarella European Commission, Joint Research Centre, T.P. 280, Ispra I-21027 (VA), Italy luca.montanarella@jrc.it +39 332 785349/+39 3406942126 

Mamadou Doumbia Soil Scientist, Institut d’Economie Rurale, Chercheur en Science du Sol, Chef de Laboratoire, Laboratoire Sol - Eau - Plante, BP 262, Bamako, Mali mddoumbiakoniobla@yahoo.fr +(223) 224-6166/ +223 2024 6166 

Marc A. Levy Deputy Director, CIESIN, Columbia University, PO Box 1000, Palisades, 10964 NY, USA marc.levy@ciesin.columbia.edu +845 365 8964/+845 270 5762

Marc Corbeels Scientist, CIAT - TSBF, 12.5 km peg Mazowe Road, P. O. Box MP228, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe m.corbeels@cgiar.org +263 912 572726/ +263 4 2906606 

Markus Walsh Senior Research Scientist, Earth Institute at Columbia University, P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya markusgwalsh@gmail.com +254 712 503 392 

Marten Baliwt Intern , UNEP, P. O. Box 30476 Martaanz.baliwt@gmail.com +254 714 222 826 

Mateete Bekunda Soil Scientist, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda mateete@agric.mak.ac.ug/mateeteb@yahoo.com +256-772-430752 

Mick Wilson Program Office UNEP, P. O. Box 30552 Nairobi, Kenya mick.wilson@unep.org +254 20 7623436/+254 735 880124

Neil McKenzie Chief, CSIRO Land and Water, GPO Box 1666, Canberra, 2601 ACT, Australia neil.mckenzie@csiro.au +61 2 6246 5922/+61439493268 

Nteranya Sanginga Director, CIAT - TSBF, P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya n.sanginga@cgiar.org +254 20 7224770 

Omozoje Ohiokpehai Food and Nutrition Specialist CIAT - TSBF c/o ICRAF, UN Avenue Gigiri, P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya o.ohiokpehai@cgiar.org +254 20 722 4779 

Pedro Sanchez Director AFSIS, Earth Institute at Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Lamont Hall, rm. 2G, Palisades, NY 10964, USA psanchez@ei.columbia.edu +845-365-4452/646-244-1720 

Peter Kamoni Senior Research Officer 1 Kenya Soil Survey, KARI, P. O. Box 14733 -00800, Nairobi, Kenya kss@iconnect.co.ke +254 20 4443376 

Peter Okoth Project Information Manager, CIAT – TSBF, c/o ICRAF, UN Avenue Gigiri, P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya p.okoth@cgiar.org +254 20 7224775

Philippe Lagacherie INRA – IRD (LISAH), Campus de la Gaillarde, bat 24 2 place Viala 34060, Montpellier, France lagache@supagro.inra.fr +33 (0)4 99 61 25 78/+33 (0) 630537708 

Robert Delve Senior Technical Advisor, Catholic Relief Services, Westlands P. O. Box 49675-00100, Nairobi, Kenya rdelve@earo.crs.org +254 20 4210000/+254733822429

Ronald Rojas Land Coordinator, FAO-SWALIM, Peace Land No. 12, Hill View Rise, Hill View Estate, P.O. Box 30470-00100, Nairobi, Kenya Rvargas@faoswalim.org +254 20 373454/+254 714746979 

Shamie Zingore Scientist, CIAT - TSBF, Chitedze Research Station, P.O. Box 158 Lilongwe, Malawi s.zingore@cgiar.org +265 1707 387 

Sheila Okoth University of Nairobi School of Biological Sciences P.O. Box 30197-00100 Nairobi, Kenya dorisokoth@yahoo.com +254 20 4449024 Ext 2470 

Sonya Ahamed CIESIN, Columbia University,61 Route 9W, PO Box 1000, Palisades, 10964 NY, USA sonyaahamed@gmail.com +845 365 8946/+908 967 2445 

Stanley Kimereh Program Assistant, Food and Agriculture organization of United Nations (FAO) Nairobi, Kenya Stanley.kimereh@fao.org +254 20 2725359/ +254 727 327 298 

Stanley Wood Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2033 K Street 20006 NW, Washington DC, USA s.wood@cgiar.org +1 (202) 862 8122 

Susan Ikerra Principal Research Officer, ARI Mlingano, P.O. Box 5088, Tanga, Tanzania susikera@yahoo.com +255 27 2647647/ 2647680/+255 713 308529 

Tareke Berhe Director Rice Program, Sasakawa Africa Association, P. O. Box 24135, code 1000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia t.berhe@vip.cgnet.com +251-911-502098 

Thomas Gumbricht Researcher Geofyshonsult, Birge Jarlasgatan 102b 3str, 11420 Stockholm, Sweden thomas.gumbricht@gmail.com 00468166002/0705456554 

Tony Simons Deputy Director General, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya t.simons@cgiar.org +254 20 7224229 

Tor Vagen Scientist, World Agro forestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677-00100 Nairobi, Kenya t.vagen@cgiar.org +254 20 722 4175/ +254 724 332508 

Vernon Kabambe Senior Lecturer/ Agronomist Bunda College of Agriculture University of Malawi P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi kabambev@yahoo.com +2651277900/+2659343465

AfSIS Launch Media Coverage AfSIS Press Briefing Attendance (1/13/09; 11:00 a.m. EAT)

More than 20 journalists from leading Kenyan and international media outlets attended the press briefing and launch ceremony held in Nairobi on January 13, 2009. Most notably, the briefing drew correspondents from major newspapers such as Business Daily (Kenya), East African (Kenya), East African Standard (Kenya), Le Monde (France), the Wall Street Journal, and crews from all five of Kenya’s national TV stations.

Press Briefing Attendees
ABC (USA) Dana Hughes
Africa Science News Service Naftali Mwaura
Africa Science News Service Henry Neondo
Business Daily (Kenya) Steve Mbogo
CISA Purity Mwenda Kiogora
The Citizen (Kenya) Solomon Muriithi
Citizen TV (Kenya) Olivia Okech
Deutsche Presse Agentur (Germany) Eva Krafczyk
East African (Kenya) John Mbaria
East African Standard (Kenya) Wandera Ojanji
IRIN/OCHA Jane Some K24 (Kenya) Ken Mijungu
KBC-TV (EarthWatch) Rosalia Omungo
KBC-TV (Kenya) Chris Omulando
Le Monde (France) Jean-Phillipe Remy
NTV (Kenya) Gladys Mutiso
People Daily Newspaper (Kenya) Agatha Ngotho
Radio Umoja (Kenya) David Mwere
SciDev.net (UK) Zablon Odhiambo
South African Broadcasting Corporation Sarah Kimani
South African Broadcasting Corporation Johnson Barasa
Voice of America (USA) Marie Mulli
Wall Street Journal (USA) Sarah Childress

The following media interviewed AfSIS spokespeople:
Interview Requests
BBC Digital Planet Pam Rutherford
BBC English to Africa Journalist
BBC French Service Journalist
BBC News Online James Morgan
BBC World Service Matt McGrath
Bloomberg Jeremy van Loon
Nature Natasha Gilbert
Radio France Internationale—English Service Billie Kadameri
Radio Netherlands Earthbeat Marnie Chesterton
Science (USA) Dan Charles
Sciences et Avenir (France) Cecile Dumas
South African Broadcasting Corporation Wandile Kallipa
The Nation (Kenya) Daniel Wasengula
Time (USA) Bryan Walsh
Wires Bloomberg
Deutsche Presse Agentur (Germany)
Pan-African News Agency
Reuters UN IRIN UN IRIN—French Print Business Daily (Kenya)
Daily Nation (Kenya)
East African (Kenya)
Le Monde (France)
Trouw (Netherlands)
Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Broadcast BBC World Service Radio
France Internationale—English Service
South African Broadcasting Corporation
Voice of America
Original Online Africa Science News Service Afrik.com
BBC News (UK) Capital FM Radio (Kenya)
Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA)
Le Journal Development Durable (France)
IFG Online (Italy)
MK News (Korea)
National Geographic Online—Hungarian Edition
Nature Magazine Online
Poverty News Blog
Time Magazine Online
Satnews Daily SciDev.Net Sciences et Avenir (France)
Science Magazine Online
Science Mode De Volkskrant Online (Netherlands)
Online Pick-up Africafiles.org
African Executive Online
AllAfrica.com Digital Journal EcoEarth.info
El Economista Online (Spain)
Environmental News Network Food,
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Policy Analysis Network
Herald de Paris Online (France)
Le Mali en ligne (Mali)
News24 (South Africa)
New Express Online (China)
Le Nouvel Observateur
Online Planet Ark
Scientific American Online
STV.TV (UK)
Tehran Times Online (Iran)
USA Today Online
Vector1Media Walta Information Center (Ethiopia)
Yahoo! News