About
The Team
Having previously supported RwaSIS, TanSIS, Ethiopia NSIS and enabling data sharing in soil health investments, the CABI team that led this project brought expertise in data governance, data sharing policy development, private sector engagement, social science and soil science.
The ISRIC team that work on this project are experts in soil health, soil data management, soil information system development and previously worked together with CABI on building RwaSIS and supporting Ethiopia NSIS.
The Project
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has made great progress in the past 10 years in exploring new and innovative digital soil mapping technologies and national SISs in Africa and South Asia to help organize new and existing soil information. However, constraints within countries stop the SISs from being sustainable read more and adaptable. The foundation sought to explore ways to make the SISs more responsive to local demand, leading to the Soil Information Systems Review project which was a collaborative effort between CABI and ISRIC - World Soil Information.
The project's solution to these constraints is to involve key actors at the review and design phase to ensure technology and environmental factors, as well as potential issues and enablers, are considered. Having previously worked on national SISs projects, the project team understands that there is not a one-fit-for-all technology or approach across countries as each country has specific needs. Therefore the following approach in the project was taken. less
The Project Approach
The project team inventoried all existing and past national SISs, from which nine countries were selected according to the criteria described in Chapter 2 of this report. In depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with SISs developers and owners for each of the nine countries to understand how the technical infrastructure, human capacities, financial, institutional and policy environment impacted the build of the SISs. Additionally, desk research was conducted on the history of these nine SISs, which can be found here.
Click here to read the full report on A Process Towards Strengthening National Soil Information Services: New Evidence for a SISs Development Framework
The interview findings were analyzed and linked to ISRIC's Soil Information Workflow to identify commonly occurring success factors and gaps to provide the following recommendations for SIS owners and implementers:
- Comprehensively assess potential soil data users, use cases, and the decisions that potential users are taking that could be improved using soil information. This can be approached through identifying the country's position among the archetypes (described in Chapter 3 of this report ) identified in our analysis, and through adapting established decision analysis approaches to understand the value of soil information for each group of stakeholders in the context of the country's enabling environment.
- Identify and centralise existing and legacy soil data in the country, digitize where needed, and develop interpretive aids that enable users to benefit from these data in the relatively short term.
- Identify and support a SISs champion who can progressively facilitate buy-in and cooperation among stakeholders at various levels, from farmers to district-level planners to NGOs to the national government.
Click here to read the full report on A Process Towards Strengthening National Soil Information Services: New Evidence for a SISs Development Framework
As the SISs technical experts, ISRIC wrote a report on the Development Options for a Soil Information Workflow and System, which provides an extensive and thorough overview of the decision points, tools and resources, results, and typical workflow of successful SISs development, while offering clarifying definitions of important concepts.
The interview, desk research and technical report were synthesized to reveal what best practice and guidance for SISs funders, owners and implementers might look like to develop an initial framework for strengthening national SISs design. Through initiating a human-centred approach, key SISs actors and experts were involved throughout the iterative development process of the framework.
Click here to view the framework for sustainable national soil information systems
The framework was applied and tested in a workshop in Zambia (April 2024), where CABI and ISRIC supported the national SISs owners, developers and key stakeholders to develop a roadmap towards their national SISs development. This involved taking stock of what's already been done in the country that could be built upon, developing partnerships for the SISs, understanding user needs, and planning for the long-term financial sustainability of the SISs.
Click here to view the framework for sustainable national soil information systems
As the framework for sustainable national SISs is intended for the global soil data community, CABI and ISRIC adopted a participatory approach for the development of the framework, including the global soil data community throughout the iterative process. For example, the team presented the framework at events such as the African Fertilizer Soil Health Summit, the International Union of Soil Science conference and GSP's International Network of Soil Information Institutions conference, seeking validation and feedback from the community to include in the next iteration to ensure it meets the needs of the users of the framework.
The framework is also now available in the Community of Practice.
Get in touch!
Are you interested in developing or improving a national SISs? Our team is experienced in supporting a wide range of stakeholders to apply the framework for sustainable national soil information systems. Use the contact form to speak with us about how we can support you on this exciting journey!