Lao PDR’s Soil Doctors Programme: Enhancing soil fertility and empowering farmers for resilient food systems
In a significant stride towards sustainable soil fertility management and enhancing farmer resilience, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has started the implementation of the Global Soil Doctors Programme. This initiative is designed to build the capacity of farmers on sustainable soil management while supporting national governments and stakeholders in addressing the needs of their rural communities. The inception of the Global Soil Doctors Program in Laos, which started in September 2023, is the product of a collaborative effort between many stakeholders. The Department of Agricultural Land Management (DALaM), Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO), District Agriculture and Forestry Office (DAFO), FAO Laos, and FAO's Global Soil Partnership have all joined hands and efforts in this endeavour
The week-long program commenced with a pilot training in sustainable soil management and visual soil assessment in Savannakhet province. The training brought together a group of 22 participants representing three government departments - DALaM, PAFO, and DAFO - as well as 20 dedicated farmers. The core focus of this training was to address the primary soil concern in Savannakhet province which is soil fertility.
The curriculum aimed at optimizing soil fertility covered a wide array of topics, including strategies for enhancing soil organic matter, managing soil nutrients, understanding soil pH, recognizing volcanic ash challenges, and understanding soil properties such as texture and structure. A particularly crucial aspect of the training was the introduction of educational soil test kits provided by the Global Soil Partnership (GSP). 
These kits enabled the trainees to perform soil visual assessments, ensuring that they are well-equipped to make informed decisions about soil management. Upon successful completion of this training, the participants will proceed to train soil doctors after which they will be certified by the GSP as trainers of soil doctors. The Global Soil Doctors Programme's mission is to empower farmers with expertise in sustainable soil management, enabling them to share this knowledge within their respective communities. In a bid to ensure sustainability, the programme collaborated closely with DALaM to identify interested and committed participants, including women and youth and to provide local information on soil threats and cropping systems.
The Global Soil Doctors Programme's journey does not end with this pilot; it's just the beginning. With financial support from FAO Laos and technical support from GSP-FAO, DALaM will expand the Programme to other provinces across the country. The aim is to train a hundred champion farmers (soil doctors) from three different provinces, who will, in turn, impart their knowledge to 1 000 farmers in 50 villages across Laos. This training's expansion is self-assured to lay a robust foundation for the Global Soil Doctors Programme in Laos, promoting collaboration with national stakeholders, facilitating knowledge exchange, aligning with national priorities, and enhancing farmers' capacity to manage soil resources. This, in turn, will lead to an increased soil fertility, ultimately resulting in resilient food systems in Laos.