The United States Is Providing $30 Million to Build Healthy, Fertile Soils as Part of VACS

The United States and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN continue to lead on tackling global food insecurity by partnering on a project that invests in helping farmers simultaneously improve soil health and crop production by providing access to better soil information through easy-to-use decision-making tools and applications.

As part of the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, the United States is providing $30 million to FAO for the development of soil information systems in Guatemala, Honduras, Zambia, Ghana, and Kenya. Named SoilFER, the project will build and improve capacities in soil sampling, mapping, modelling and monitoring, as well as on soil and fertilizer analysis.

Announced as part of Ukraine Supplementals Two ($20 million) and Four ($10 million), SoilFER builds on established advances made by the FAO Global Soil Partnership (GSP) secretariat to provide accurate soil information and data as well as a comprehensive set of tools and platforms for smallholder farmers and governments.

SoilFER connects farmers to field-scale land use planning and crop suitability tools, which help farmers decide where and what to plant based on improved soil information. SoilFER also links growers to fertilizer recommendation tools, including those developed in collaboration with other institutions, which help farmers decide how to manage their farms during a particular year. The improved soil information can be used to inform decisions about how to manage, including for improved soil health.

Collectively, these tools assist farmers’ decisions to improve fertilizer use efficiency and crop productivity, increasing incomes and improving livelihoods.

SoilFER is implementing approximately $6 million in Guatemala, $6 million in Honduras, $8 million in Zambia, $6 million in Kenya, and $4 million in Ghana. This funding will strengthen smallholder agricultural production in these countries, mapping the soil needs, and providing technical assistance to farmers. With this assistance farmers will be able to improve soil fertility through more efficient use of fertilizer and water. This will support climate-smart agricultural practices, soil health and the use of resilient crops.

The SoilFER projects are working to establish a self-sustaining, government-managed national framework and a functioning workflow for integrated soil nutrient and optimized fertilizer management.