Kenya: Soil Mapping Aims to Boost Agricultural Production in Kenya

What the report says

Kenya has begun rolling out a soil-mapping initiative aimed at helping farmers make better crop and fertilizer decisions as climate-related shocks intensify. According to UN News, the Soil Mapping for Resilient Agrifood systems, or SoilFER, programme is designed to give farmers location-specific information about their land, including soil composition, pH and fertility. The effort is being carried out with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with support from the United States Department of State and Japan.

The article says more than 3,600 soil samples have already been collected and mapped across 45 counties, feeding into a digital soil map. Some farmers are also being trained as “soil doctors” so they can diagnose degraded soils and share that knowledge with others in their communities. KALRO has renovated three laboratories and equipped them for sample analysis, while the findings are sent directly to farmers’ mobile phones.

The initiative was launched in Kabete and also introduced the Kenya Soil Partnership, the Kenya Soil Laboratory Network and a national rollout of the Global Soil Doctors Programme. Kenyan agriculture officials said wider coordination and better access to soil information are important for sustainable farm management. The report adds that the programme is already active in six other countries, though the Kenyan rollout is the focus of this story.