FAO, Government of Liberia and University of Liberia Launches Liberia Soil Information System
Monrovia - Studying soil status in Liberia is of paramount importance for national development, effective soil resources management, and successful crop production in the country.
This is why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Government of Liberia and the University of Liberia and under the technical support of FAO’s Global Soil Partnership developed the Liberia Soil Informationk System (LibSIS), a digital platform that contains maps showing the distribution and trends of soil chemical, physical and derived soil properties alongside spatially-explicit information on natural parks and land suitability.
Official Launch of the LibSIS – Liberia’s first national soil information system
On 9 August 2023, representatives from Ministry of Agriculture, (MoA), Central Agriculture Research Institute, (CARI), Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other development partners gathered for the official launch of the LibSIS.
The LibSIS platform, now publicly available online, aims to serve as a one-stop-shop online repository of soil data through its map interface, which provides a comprehensive understanding of Liberia's soil resources to support evidence-based decision-making in agriculture, forestry, land-planning and other sectors. FAO’s Global Soil Partnership (GSP) has technically supported the platform's development, being part of the global initiative with its mandate to improve governance of the planet’s soil resources to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food secure world.
"With the launch of LibSIS, Liberia has taken a significant step towards sustainable land management and evidence-based decision-making. The system is a valuable tool not only for Liberia but also for other countries looking to leverage soil information for sustainable management," said Octavius Quarbo, Assistant FAO Representative for Programme.
As Liberia now joins other countries such as Lesotho and Malawi in establishing a soil information system, the benefits of the data and platform collected and generated by LibSIS will go beyond the country’s development and contribute to global efforts for effective natural resource management and sustainable development. LibSIS, developed using open-source technologies, is integrated into the Global Soil Information System (GloSIS), which enables the harmonization and sharing of soil data across borders.
Mr. Ansu S. Konneh, the representative of the Minister of Agriculture, began by conveying Hon. Jeanine Cooper’s profoundest gratitude to FAO for its financial and technical support to the development of Liberia’s Soil Information System. He continued by affirming the government's commitment to assume full responsibility for the platform, while having the need for additional trainings and the dissemination of simplified key messages to farmers through the extension system and other means, including radio.
Development partners, including the European Union, World Bank, Sweden, and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), thanked FAO for the gains made and assure of their support to increase and improve the capacities through ongoing and underway programmes. As a phase two is needed to ensure that primary data (soil samples) are collected from the remaining 14 counties – in addition to Nimba, which was covered under the current project – the resource partners acknowledged the catalytic effects of the FAO technical cooperation programme, whilst thanking the government, academic and research institutions for their implementation.
Beneficiaries from the University of Liberia and CARI stressed the extent to which their capacities were built through the data collection and analysis processes, and urged the government, FAO and partners to work assiduously to ensure that the gains made under the TCP are expanded on.
Way Forward
FAO encourages partners to join forces in scaling up the intervention by extending the project's scope to cover all areas across the nation. This expansion will enable the country to gather primary soil data, and refine and create additional soil property maps for the entire country. The current and concluding project commenced soil sampling and surveys in Nimba County. FAO envisions broadening the project's reach to include the remaining 14 counties. The proposed intervention will also aim to ensure that the findings of the soil study are linked to tangible decision-making processes, such as the development of decision support systems for optimized fertilizer use and policy development that will contribute to sustainable soil management and transformative changes in the country's agrifood systems.
By collaborating and expanding the project's coverage, the partners can collectively work towards a more sustainable and informed approach to soil management and agricultural development in Liberia.
Links
FAO Liberia: https://www.fao.org/liberia
FAO highlight: Using technology to improve access to soil information in Liberia (25/08/2022)
Project Photo Gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/faooftheun/albums/72177720301578823
Liberia Soil Information System (LibSIS) Project: https://lib-sis.org/; Data: https://libsislr.com/