| Project's full title |
SoilFER-VACS Framework - Enhancing Integrated Soil-Crop Management for Sustainable Food Systems in Africa |
| Country |
Tunisia
|
| Start date |
17/05/2023 |
| End date |
16/05/2027 |
| Status |
on going |
| Donor |
Japan |
| Recipient / Target Areas |
Tunisia
|
| Objective / Goal |
The programme strengthens the full soil information cycle—from field surveys and laboratory analysis to digital information systems, crop suitability assessments and fertilizer recommendations—ensuring that soil information becomes operational and accessible for decision-making. Activities support the development of high-resolution soil information, strengthened laboratory systems and improved national capacities to generate, manage and use soil data. Under the VACS framework, SoilFER in Tunisia and Mozambique promotes climate-resilient and locally adapted agricultural systems by connecting soil health, crop selection and nutrient management. Field validation and sustainable soil and fertilizer management trials support the development of practical recommendations that improve fertilizer use efficiency, strengthen crop productivity and enhance resilience to climatic and market shocks. The programme is also contributing to the development of farmer-facing advisory services and decision-support tools that translate scientific data into actionable recommendations for extension providers, policymakers and producers. Through these investments in governance, digital systems, laboratory capacity and advisory services, SoilFER contributes to more resilient agrifood systems, improved food security and sustainable management of soil and nutrient resources in Tunisia and Mozambique.
|
| Partners |
Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Ressources Hydrauliques et de la Pêche Maritime – Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries; DG-ACTA – Direction Générale de l’Aménagement et de la Conservation des Terres Agricoles.
|
| Beneficiaries |
The programme benefits:
- National institutions responsible for agriculture, soils, land and natural resource management
- Soil laboratories and technical agencies involved in soil analysis and data management
- Extension services and advisory providers
- Policymakers and planners developing evidence-based agricultural and land-use policies
- Researchers, universities and technical experts
- Farmers and producer organizations benefiting from improved soil management recommendations and decision-support tools
Capacity development embedded throughout the process helps ensure sustainability beyond the programme cycle.
|
| Activities |
Selected activities include: - Soil surveys, sampling campaigns and advanced laboratory analysis to generate harmonized soil data and strengthen national soil monitoring systems.
- Development of high-resolution soil, nutrient and land-use information, including digital Soil Information Systems (SIS/NSIS), laboratory information systems and soil health dashboards.
- Crop suitability assessment and integrated soil-crop management approaches to support climate-resilient and locally adapted agricultural systems.
- Establishment of field trials and development of fertilizer recommendation methodologies and sustainable soil and fertilizer management practices.
- Development of farmer advisory tools, microscale crop advisory interfaces and decision-support systems to support crop selection, fertilizer management and land-use planning.
- Strengthening of extension services, stakeholder engagement and communication approaches to promote knowledge uptake and farmer feedback mechanisms.
- National and regional capacity development programmes on soil surveys, soil analysis, soil mapping, data management and advisory services.
|
| Impact |
Tunisia has completed the national SoilFER-VACS sampling campaign and is advancing toward fertilizer recommendation development supported by field validation. Work combines harmonized soil data generation with field trials and preparation for national decision-support outputs. Progress highlights:
- Establishment of institutional coordination mechanisms and operational arrangements to support national implementation and long-term sustainability.
- Formal establishment of the National Soil Partnership to strengthen soil governance and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
- Completion of the national soil sampling campaign, generating harmonized datasets to support soil monitoring and evidence-based planning.
- Training of national teams on field protocols, digital data capture and sample handling procedures to ensure consistency and data quality throughout the survey campaign.
- Strengthening of laboratory infrastructure, analytical workflows and quality assurance procedures to support harmonized soil analysis and reliable soil data generation.
- Development of legacy soil data repositories and consolidation of historical soil information for integration into the forthcoming national Soil Information System (SIS/NSIS) and digital soil services.
- Preparation of soil, land-use and analytical datasets to support crop suitability assessment and soil–crop matching approaches under the VACS framework.
- Advancement of fertilizer recommendation modelling and integrated soil-crop management approaches through field validation and sustainable soil and fertilizer management trials (2 durum wheat fertilization trials reported).
- Preparation of decision-support and advisory-oriented services that will translate soil and crop information into practical guidance for policymakers, extension services and farmers.
- Capacity development through technical training, knowledge exchange and digital tools to support sustainable national soil information and advisory systems.
|
| Contact |
Programme coordination: soilfer@fao.org | FAO Representation in Tunisia: FAO-TUN@fao.org
- Rahma Brini – SoilFER National Project Coordinator
- Karem Saad – Technical Specialist in Digital Soil Mapping, Soil Information and Data
- Yassine Hidrie – Technical Specialist in Soil Laboratories
- Mouna Mechri – Technical Specialist in Soil Management and Fertility
- Faten Aouadi – Communications focal point
- Yi Peng – FAO Headquarters focal point
|
| More on this topic |
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| Related publications |
06/2024
In Central America and sub-Saharan Africa, the Soil Mapping for Resilient Agrifood Systems (SoilFER) project stands out as a unique framework aimed at unearthing valuable information from soils to guide policymaking and fertilizer recommendations both at national and field scale.
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