Access to soil information in Liberia has many challenges due to inadequate available soil data, poor soil data storage/database management, and insufficient data access infrastructure. In 2021, the Government of Liberia and FAO jointly agreed on the need to overcome these challenges and improve the country’s soil information portfolio through a two-year Technical Cooperation Project, titled "Strengthening soil analysis and information systems in Liberia" (TCP/LIR/3804). It is expected that the TCP will promote informed decisions on soil and agriculture management in Liberia. The FAO’s Global Soil Partnerships (GSP) is providing technical support to the project. 

The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) was established in 2017 to build and strengthen the capacity of laboratories in soil analysis and to respond to the need for harmonizing soil analytical data. Harmonization of methods, units, data and information is critical to (1) provide reliable and comparable information between countries and projects; (2) allow the generation of new harmonized soil data sets; and (3) support evidence-based decision making for sustainable soil management. In order to better downscale its activities and to adapt them to the local context, the GLOSOLANis structured into Regional and National Soil Laboratory Networks. National Soil Laboratory Networks represent the first level of the GLOSOLAN pyramid and are established by grouping together soil laboratories operating in the same country, under the leadership of the National Reference Laboratory.

Soil nutrient mapping and monitoring to build resilient agri-food systems

Rapidly increasing fertilizer prices as well as growing food insecurity driven by the global COVID-19 pandemic, current conflicts as well as intensifying climatic patterns have exacerbated the need for informed decision-making based on digital soil mapping and monitoring. Soil maps capture the spatial variability of our soil resources to identify intervention hotspots and guide localized management decisions.  

Five busy days of congress filled with oral presentations, posters, networking and distribution of material

In April 2019, the first Joint Meeting of Arab Ministers of Agriculture and Water called for “establishing a sustainable regional mechanism to build individual and institutional capacities necessary to plan, design, and implement water and land management programs efficiently” in recognition of the growing threat for soil degradation in Near East and North African (NENA). The FAO responded to this call by funding the TCP/RAB/3802 project on “Capacity development for the sustainable management of soil resources in the NENA region to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. The project aims to raise awareness on the importance of soils and to conserve and manage them sustainably in eleven countries in NENA: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kingdom of Morocco, Lebanese Republic, Republic of Iraq, Republic of Sudan, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Yemen, West Bank and Gaza Strip, Sultanate of Oman and the Syrian Arab Republic.