Preparations for the Soils4Africa field campaign underway
March 08, 2022

Here are some updates from the Soils4Africa project from the past couple of months:

Preparation is underway for the field campaign—during which field surveyors will go out and collect soil samples from 20,000 sites across Africa. The sampling points are representative of various agroecological zones and agricultural land uses. The samples will be analyzed for a number of indicators (see details). The data thus produced will form the basis of the Soil Information System, which can continue to expand in the future with successive iterations of sample collection and analysis. As part of the preparations, institutions that will lead the campaigns at the national levels are being identified.
An online Survey Data and Management Tool (SDMT) will be deployed to manage and coordinate the field campaign. The tool is at an advance stage of development and will soon be available for use by national-level institutions involved in the survey.
Training material is being prepared for use in trainings of the field prospectors that will commence shortly. This includes a detailed guidance for fieldwork (link) and a series of videos (to be completed and shared soon).

Watch this space for subsequent updates!