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3 May 2024, Alto Molócuè – In a pioneering initiative in Mozambique, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a training of trainers in sustainable soil management, equipping the 20 participants with knowledge on improving soil health and adopting sustainable soil management practices. The training, which took place as part of the Organization's projects in the country PROMOVE Agribiz, funded by the European Union, and PRODAI, funded by the Italian Cooperation Agency, was held under FAO's Global Soil Doctor Programme (GSDP).

'Soil Doctors' aims to provide farmers with educational materials to learn about Sustainable Soil Management. The most outstanding farmers - recognized as 'Soil Doctors' - are selected to support and educate other farmers in their community. This scheme creates a self-sufficient exchange process that promotes the practice of Sustainable Soil Management.

In Mozambique, says Carolina Olivera Sanchez, Sustainable Soil Management Consultant at FAO headquarters in Rome, the focus is on one of the most important parameters, namely "the visual assessment of soil organic matter and its increase, which is very important both for life in the soil and to ensure better food production. The soil," Carolina Olivera continues, "is the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon, more than forests and the atmosphere. In this way, we promote long-term resilience of agricultural practices."

The Global Programme is a farmer-to-farmer training initiative developed by the Global Soil Partnership (GSP). As part of FAO, the GSP works to improve soil governance to ensure productive soils for food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable development for all.

Nélio António, FAO district technician in Ribaué District, Nampula, and one of the participants in the five-day training course, is particularly enthusiastic about the possibility of carrying out a pH analysis of the soil in the field: "universities are doing it in laboratories, but for us to be able to take an approximate pH measurement in the field is unprecedented". In addition to this new possibility, the training will help farmers "make informed decisions about which practices to improve and implement to ensure that the soil is more productive".

The 20 participants, including technicians from FAO and District Services for Economic Activities (SDAEs), as well as university professors, will train 130 'Soil Doctors' and around 600 farmers will receive training in sustainable management and soil evaluation through the Global Programme.

For Ivanilde Azevedo, a SDAE technician in Nicoadala District, Zambézia, the training brought the complementarity between knowledge of the soil and knowledge of plants that she needed: "We normally work on plants without addressing the soil. But plant problems don't always concern plants directly. Now we can go deeper into our soil analysis. This will improve the quality of production."

Also for Eduardo Mondlane University's Professor of Soils, Armindo Cambule, this is "a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between academic research and the practical application of sustainable soil management in the field". Soon, Cambule continues, "we will have farmers equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to adopt more sustainable soil management practices."

The GSP, which includes the Global Programme, is a globally recognized mechanism created in 2012 with the mission of positioning soils on the Global Agenda and promoting sustainable soil management. In this context, Máximo Ochoa, FAO Mozambique Project Officer for the PROMOVE Agribiz programme, specifies: "this training contributes to achieving SDGs 2, 13 and 15, as it provides the necessary tools for increasing agricultural productivity, mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity."

The 'Soil Doctors' Global Programme has already trained more than 10,000 farmers in 25 countries, mainly in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.