Khartoum - FAO is moving forward on the implementation of one of its newest initiatives in Sudan, a project titled “Sudan Soil Information System and Digital Soil Mapping”.  The 2-year project under FAO's Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) aims to establish a functional, accessible and sustainable National Soil Information System (NSIS) while strengthening the capacity of national soil experts to conduct and utilize digital soil mapping techniques in Sudan. The project will also provide direct support to farmers on sustainable soil management best practice to improve crop productivity.

On 19 July, FAO Sudan led an inception workshop for project stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Animal Resources, Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), University of Khartoum, Natural Resources Administration (NRA), Forests National Corporation (FNC), Remote Sensing Authority and the Darfur Land Commission. “The establishment of a national soil database is essential for effective soil management policies, strategies and programmes in Sudan,” said Assistant FAO Representative for Programmes, Elwathig Muktabar. “Sudan’s food security depends on the adoption of sustainable soil management practices to boost food production through improved soil fertility, water holding capacity and in supporting farmers’ resilience to climate change, especially as it relates to desertification.”

Once established, Sudan’s NSIS will facilitate the integration and application of soil data to inform policy-making and planning on food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, provision of ecosystem services, land suitability analysis and land degradation assessment. The system will be fundamental for monitoring the status of soils as it relates to the impacts of human intervention, such as land use changes, and climate change.  Sudan’s NSIS will contain spatial information on soil types and  will include soil property maps with data on soil fertility and suitability for crop production across Sudan. FAO will support stakeholders on how to use the soil data to identify appropriate fertilizing techniques for specific soil regions, support land use planning and advocate for support for soil productivity and management programmes.

The project is one component of FAO Sudan’s work to enhance the productivity of rainfed agricultural systems in Sudan, which have faced worrying declines in crop production over the last decade due to land degradation, reduced soil fertility, the use of improper tillage techniques and a broader lack of knowledge of improved land management best practice. The project falls under FAO Sudan’s priority intervention area to improve Sudan’s broader policy and institutional environment to strengthen food security and resilience programming through capacity building, enhanced coordination and informed decision-making.

FAO also recently launched the Global Soil Partnership as a mechanism to support and facilitate actions to secure healthy soils for improved global food security, with a focus on increasing the quality and quantity of soil information at all levels. FAO Sudan’s work to support Sudan to develop its own NSIS align with the aim of the Global Soil Partnership and will position Sudan to contribute to FAO’s broader work to establish a Global Soil Information System. More information on FAO’s Global Soil Soil Information System can be found here.