Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (2024–2034) & the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA): Companion Document
Date
2025-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
FARA
Abstract
The Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (2024–2034) & the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA): Companion Document provides detailed technical and analytical guidance supporting implementation of Africa's continental soil-health agenda. It expands the strategic provisions of the SIA Framework and the AFSH-AP by examining the technical, institutional, financial and knowledge requirements for improving soil health, soil fertility, fertilizer efficiency and agricultural productivity across Africa.
The document comprises eleven chapters covering soil information systems; economics of soil degradation and restoration; scaling soil health and integrated fertilizer management; agricultural extension and advisory services; human capital for soil science; soil health and climate change; soil and water management; fertilizer production, marketing and use; monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning; and financing mechanisms.
The Companion Document identifies widespread soil degradation, limited accessible soil information, insufficient soil-science capacity, weak extension systems, low fertilizer use and inadequate investment as interconnected barriers to sustainable agricultural productivity. It provides evidence, implementation options and institutional recommendations for addressing these constraints through coordinated action at continental, regional, national and local levels.
Description
The Companion Document provides the technical and analytical foundation underlying the SIA and AFSH-AP implementation agenda. Unlike the Toolkit, which is structured primarily around practical implementation tools, the Companion Document provides detailed chapters explaining the major technical issues that shape implementation.
It contains eleven chapters:
Introduction to Companion Document;
Developing Soil Information Systems for Africa;
Economics of Soil Degradation and Restoration in Africa;
Scaling Soil Health and Integrated Fertilizer Management;
Strengthening Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services;
Human Capital for Soil Science and its Application;
Soil Health and Climate Change in Africa;
Optimizing Soil Health and Water Management in Africa;
Fertilizer Production, Marketing and Use in Africa;
AFSH-AP & SIA MEAL Framework;
AFSH-AP & SIA Financing Mechanisms; and
Soil Information Systems.
The document identifies the lack of accessible, harmonized and digitized soil information as a major constraint to agricultural investment and productivity. It recommends development and strengthening of national and regional Soil Information Systems and improved data interoperability.
Economics of Soil Degradation;
A dedicated chapter examines approaches for quantifying the economic costs of soil degradation and the benefits of restoration. It discusses ecosystem-service valuation, geospatial technologies, cost-benefit analysis, environmental accounting, and the application of big data and artificial intelligence to degradation assessment.
Scaling Soil Health;
The Companion Document distinguishes scaling from simple dissemination and identifies three dimensions: scaling out, scaling up and scaling deep. It emphasizes innovation platforms, capacity development, market and value-chain development, policy advocacy and adaptive learning as components of successful scaling.
Extension and Advisory Services;
The document proposes strengthening soil-health extension through coordinated continental, regional and national structures, specialized training, digital advisory tools, farmer feedback systems and stronger research-extension linkages.
Human Capital;
The publication highlights significant gaps in soil-science capacity, including insufficient expertise at local and watershed levels and shortages of expertise in soil biology, conservation, Digital Soil Mapping, GIS, geostatistics and remote sensing.
Climate and Soil Health;
The document establishes the reciprocal relationship between soil degradation and climate change and promotes climate-smart soil-health practices, improved soil carbon management, conservation agriculture, organic amendments and agroforestry.
Monitoring and Learning;
The MEAL framework provides the operational basis for tracking AFSH-AP implementation and integrates reporting with CAADP processes. It includes mid-term and final evaluations, digital dashboards, performance scorecards, learning activities and farmer feedback mechanisms.
Financing;
The financing chapter proposes coordinated public, private and development-partner investment mechanisms. It assigns roles to AUDA-NEPAD, AfDB/AFFM, FARA, IFAD, FAO, RECs and Member States and outlines indicative resource-mobilization targets.
Keywords
AFSH-AP, Soil Initiative for Africa, SIA, Soil Health, Soil Degradation, Soil Fertility, Fertilizer Management, Soil Information Systems, Soil Health Monitoring, Sustainable Land Management, Climate-Smart Agriculture, Soil and Water Conservation, Agricultural Extension, Soil Science, Fertilizer Production, Fertilizer Markets, CAADP, AUSO, Knowledge Management, Agricultural Financing, Africa
Citation
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa. (2025, September). Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (2024–2034) & the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA): Companion Document. FARA.