BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The "Sustainable soil management for nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia" (GCP/GLO/730/GER) project is under implementation in Malawi, Burkina Faso and Bangladesh. The overall objective of this three-year initiative is to promote the application of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices for a nutrition-sensitive agriculture. This food-based approach to agricultural development puts nutritionally rich foods, dietary diversity, and food fortification at the heart of overcoming malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.

Together with the “Bureau National des Sols” (BUNASOLS), a national workshop was held in Burkina Faso in April 21^st  to present the results of the field trials and demonstrations of improved micronutrient content and quality of soils and crops after the implementation of sustainable soil management practices. The workshop contribute to:

1.       Share recommendations for research, policy and capacity development:

• Disseminate the results of the field trials implemented by BUNASOLS and their impact on micronutrients composition of food and soil;
• Describe the most common and promising SSM practices to address micronutrient deficiencies in Burkina Faso;
• Identify recommendations to be included in normative documents to promote SSM for nutrition-sensitive agriculture;
• Inform national stakeholders on the project activities carried out during 2022, including the development of technical guidelines on SSM for nutrition sensitive agriculture and invite them to participate in the Global Symposium on Soils for Nutrition on 26-29 July 2022.

2.       Visit the project area in Burkina Faso and present the educational material of the Global Soil Doctors Programme related to the improvement of soil fertility and nutritional status of crops:

• Explore the registration of BUNASOLS as national promoters of the Soil Doctors Programme;
• Present the posters and field exercises and identify SSM practices to recommend and promote.

3.       Assess national needs on soil data and information, soil laboratory analysis, fertilizer analysis and soil recarbonization. and identify national stakeholders who can be involved in these soil-related activities 

Fourty-one national experts from national and local institutions, NGOs and private sector participated actively in the workshop and enabled a fruitful discussion. The SSM practices that were prioritized during the debate will be included in the final project report and in a national Policy Brief that will provide relevant information on practices description, costs and benefits. The Global Soil Doctors Programme is a key instrument of this project as it directly serves to scale up the implementation of SSM practices for nutrition sensitive agriculture.

As a follow-up to the workshop, members of the government of Burkina Faso proposed to formulate a second phase of this project with the ultimate goal of developing a national strategy to tackle human micronutrient deficiencies.

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