The Globally Integrated Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) is a large-scale, research-based project to develop a practical, timely, and cost-effective soil health surveillance service to map soil conditions, set a baseline for monitoring changes, and provide options for improved soil and land management in Africa.
AfSIS is building on recent advances in digital soil mapping, infrared spectroscopy, remote sensing, statistics, and integrated soil fertility management to improve the way that soils are evaluated, mapped, and monitored, while significantly reducing the costs to do so. Innovative soil management methods such as the combination of inorganic fertilizers with organic inputs that improve crop yields while enhancing the environment are being tested and documented. The project is also facilitating the identification of areas at risk of soil degradation and corresponding preventive and rehabilitative soil management interventions based on analysis of what works and what doesn’t.
Dissemination and training is making the project’s outcomes accessible to farm communities, public and private extension services, national agricultural research and soil survey organizations, the fertilizer sector, project and local planners, national and regional policymakers, and scientists. The efforts in Africa are part of a wider, global effort to digitally map the world’s soil resources.
AfSIS Labs is new, experimental site where researchers and staff from partner organizations are posting updates from the field and laboratory as well as toolkits, datasets, analyses, and training materials. Our online mapping and download service can be found here. Please also visit the project’s main website AfricaSoils.net for more information.
