{"id":22050,"date":"2026-07-31T07:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regionalhub-west.org\/?p=22050"},"modified":"2026-07-31T07:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:40:37","slug":"cgiar-chief-scientist-explores-the-science-driving-better-soil-decisions-in-the-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regionalhub-west.org\/fr\/cgiar-chief-scientist-explores-the-science-driving-better-soil-decisions-in-the-hub\/","title":{"rendered":"CGIAR Chief Scientist Explores the Science Driving Better Soil Decisions in the Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

CGIAR Chief Scientist Visits Regional Hub for Fertilizer and Soil Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a recent visit to the Regional Hub for Fertilizer and Soil Health for West Africa and the Sahel at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria, CGIAR Chief Scientist Dr. Sandra Cristina Milach explored how the Hub is translating cutting-edge soil science into practical solutions that support farmers, strengthen national decision-making, and improve fertilizer and soil health management across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit formed part of her broader engagement with IITA and offered an opportunity to examine the science, partnerships, and innovations driving the Hub’s work. Throughout the discussions, one question remained at the centre: how can cutting-edge soil science be translated into practical decisions that improve productivity, strengthen national investments, and ultimately benefit farmers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Soil Data to Actionable Intelligence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first demonstrations showcased the evolution of the Hub’s high-resolution soil information framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regional Hub Data Scientist Sehou Kouiho explained how the Hub is progressively improving the quality and reliability of its soil information. The process begins with global baseline datasets that provide broad coverage across countries. These are then enriched with thousands of legacy soil records collected over several years, before field sampling campaigns \u2014 already carried out in countries such as Ghana and Nigeria \u2014 further improve the resolution and accuracy of the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is a new generation of digital soil maps offering finer resolution for agricultural planning and fertilizer management, with insights into soil fertility, nutrient distribution, and soil acidity across West Africa and the Sahel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond mapping, Kouiho demonstrated how the Hub integrates these datasets with remote sensing, weather data, laboratory analyses, and machine learning models to generate site-specific fertilizer recommendations tailored to local soil conditions and cropping systems. He also highlighted the development of a regional data infrastructure that promotes data discovery and standardization while serving as the foundation for digital advisory services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, these tools form part of a unified soil information infrastructure designed to support governments, researchers, extension services, and private-sector partners with reliable, science-based recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridging National Planning with Farm-Level Decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recurring theme during the discussions was the challenge of connecting national-scale soil intelligence with the realities of individual farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While regional and national soil maps are essential for guiding policy and investment decisions, Dr. Milach emphasized that meaningful agricultural transformation ultimately depends on recommendations that reflect conditions on individual farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My farm might be different from his farm even when they are side by side,” she observed, underscoring the importance of complementing broad national analyses with site-specific recommendations that farmers can confidently apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hub team explained how advanced modeling bridges these two scales. Rather than presenting complex scientific outputs directly to farmers, the models translate soil data into practical recommendations delivered through digital advisory platforms, extension systems, and private-sector partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is the Hub’s collaboration with iSDA, whose mobile-based digital agronomy platform delivers tailored fertilizer recommendations directly to farmers. In areas where smartphone access remains limited, the Hub continues to work with Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) networks to ensure farmers can still access advisory services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hub also supports initiatives such as Nigeria’s Farmers’ Soil Health Card Scheme, enabling farmers to receive field-specific recommendations based on scientific soil analysis rather than generalized fertilizer advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Driven by Country Demand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussions also touched on how the Hub determines where to focus its scientific efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than developing fertilizer recommendations in isolation, the Hub works in response to country demand: national governments identify priority crops, production systems, or investment areas requiring technical support, and Hub scientists then assess whether sufficient historical soil and agronomic data exist to develop robust fertilizer response models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where evidence is inadequate, the Hub recommends generating new field data through carefully designed trials that capture agroecological diversity, rather than producing weak or unreliable recommendations. This demand-driven approach keeps scientific output credible, locally relevant, and responsive to country priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strengthening the Laboratory Backbone of Soil Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond digital tools and modelling, the visit underscored the critical role of laboratory systems in producing reliable soil information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kouiho outlined the Hub’s vision for a regional hub-and-spoke laboratory network to strengthen soil analytical capacity across West Africa and the Sahel. Under this model, regional reference laboratories would provide quality assurance, standardized methods, technical support, and capacity development for national laboratories, which would in turn support smaller laboratories within their respective countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approach is intended to improve analytical accuracy and data quality while building a stronger regional ecosystem for soil testing and fertilizer research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delegation also toured the Regional Hub’s dry chemistry laboratory, where IITA Analytical Services Manager Joseph Uponi demonstrated the technologies underpinning soil analysis and fertilizer research. Uponi explained how modern analytical techniques are reducing both the cost and time required for soil testing while maintaining high analytical accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These laboratory innovations form the foundation on which digital soil maps, nutrient recommendations, and national soil information systems are built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Research to Real-World Decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the visit, another message emerged clearly: advances in soil science only create value when they reach the people making decisions in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Milach and the Hub team discussed the importance of making scientific information more accessible \u2014 not only to researchers and policymakers, but also to extension agents, agro-dealers, and farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address this gap, the Hub is actively developing decision-support tools such as AKILIMO, which simplifies complex scientific information into practical recommendations that users can readily understand and apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AKILIMO is a digital advisory platform currently focused on cassava production, delivering location-specific recommendations directly to farmers’ mobile phones and enabling informed decisions on fertilizer use, crop management, and productivity improvement. The Hub is now scaling the platform beyond cassava to additional crops and countries, strengthening its role as a cross-crop decision-support system for farmers across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the visit, Dr. Milach affirmed the importance of ensuring that scientific innovation translates into tangible impact. “The real value of the science,” she noted, “lies in moving data off the laptop and into the hands of those who can take action.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her visit reinforced the Regional Hub’s growing role as a scientific and technical partner for countries across West Africa and the Sahel \u2014 connecting laboratories, digital innovation, and data science to help governments make smarter investments, strengthen fertilizer systems, and improve soil health for millions of farmers across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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