At the sidelines of the African food systems summit, Africa’s key partners in the development of agriculture have met to discuss the future of soil health and water management for better food systems. The meeting held at Lemigo Hotel discussed the core ideas or initiatives required to enable addressing gaps in soil health and water management in Africa.
Giving opening remarks, Dr Paul Fatch, the continental chairperson African Forum for Agriculture Advisory Services (AfAAS) and host of the meeting, African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), mandated by the African Union to implement AEAS components of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), plays a pivotal role at the sub-regional and continental levels. Unfortunately, the organization, alongside its partners, struggles with a lack of organized expertise in soil science, hindering the ability to manage projects requiring sub-regional or continental specialization.
“We have low expertise and poor organization in soil science in Africa, This deficit is further exacerbated by the limited demand for advisory services, particularly at the local level, where soil scientists are often concentrated within academic circles rather than in practical applications. So we need to move through coalitions to enable achieve the intended goal.” Said Dr Fatch
Dr Silim Mohammed Nandhy, Executive Director Afaas , said In response to these pressing issues, members agreed to form the Soil Health and Water Management (SHWM) Coalition with the aim of harnessing AEAS to improve soil health management across Africa.
“This coalition will be committed to developing a knowledge pool, scaling frameworks, and building human capital at every level, with a strong focus on fostering institutional and organizational development. Additionally, the coalition prioritizes advocacy and resource mobilization to support its mission of enhancing soil health across the continent” adds Dr Silim.
Dr kitanaka President of the Sasakawa Africa Association, expressed satisfaction of the composition of the partners towards implementing this coalition, saying members needed to support the coalition
” It is crucial that we use this opportunity to ensure that the coalition is on track to achieve its goals, paving the way for transformative programs that will significantly enhance soil health across Africa. Sasakawa Africa association pledges its support to the secretariat because we want this coalition to take off”. Adds Dr Kitanaka
Dr Lilian Lihaisi Director of Programmes at AFAAS said the basis of the partnership side event was premised on the advantage that all members of the SHWM Coalition had confirmed to participate in the AFS Forum 2024, she adds that this was an invaluable opportunity to discuss the progress made since the last coalition meeting,
“we want to particularly discuss key issues that include Review and Discussion of Progress, Formation of the Coalition Secretariat, agree on the structure and operationalization of the Coalition Secretariat, Strategy for Developing the Strategic Companion Document and In-Depth Discussion of Key Strategic Programs,” said Dr LIhaisi
Dr Mel Oluch, the partnership Director at Sasakawa Africa Association said the meeting was a platform for coalition members to align on the next steps but also to engage with other stakeholders present at the summit, potentially expanding the coalition’s network and influence.
During this meeting, several partner organizations made statements of goodwill towards the formation of the coalition and the call for urgent activations. These included representatives from catholic relief services (CRS), Transformation for Africa Agriculture Technologies (TAAT), African Fertiliser Program (AFAP), CABI, FARA and AGRA among others.
AGRA committed to supporting the establishment and implementation of the coalition, saying soil health is the baseline for an attainable food system. The Africa Food Systems Forum 2024 (AFS Forum 2024) is running from September 2-6, 2024, in Kigali, Rwanda. Hosted by the Government of Rwanda and the AFS Forum Partner’s group