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Soils4Africa project participated in the RIC2023 conference

September 2023
The Soils4Africa project participated in the 7^th International Conference (RIC2023) hosted by the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Nairobi, Kenya, and held from August 8 to 10, 2023. There were over 400 delegates from different countries in Africa and beyond in attendance.
The conference theme was "NEXT LEVEL: Space to Community," placing emphasis on the importance of utilizing geo-science for effective policy implementation.

The Soils4Africa contributed substantively to pillar 2: Agriculture and food security. The project is represented by several team members, including Prof. Wole Fatunbi of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr. Samuel Mesele of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Bernard Waruru of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and Ms Eunice Mwangi of RCMRD. The team participated in panel discussions on how to improve the science-policy linkages in agriculture and food security, data integration, and data sharing among various actors to improve decision-making at the policy level.
RIC2023 was also a good opportunity to introduce Soils4Africa to a wider African audience. The emerging Soil Information System (SIS) for Africa was of great interest to participants at the plenary and the different side events where Soil4Africa was featured. The project team is working on several follow-up actions after the conference, including identifying the suitable African hosting institution for the SIS.
Credit: Reported by Prof. Wole Fatunbi (FARA)