Bringing affordable soil testing to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

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Food demand in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to triple between 2010 and 2050 and rapid closure of the gap between current farm yields and yield potential is needed to maintain the current level of cereal self-sufficiency (approximately 80%) by 2050. Without it, the result will be massive cropland expansion with attendant biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions or vast import dependency. The aim of this project is therefore to bring affordable soil analysis to smallholder farmers across Africa to harness the benefits for investments in fertilisers to increase their yields. Our solution is to tap into the wealth of information contained in the gases released by soil biota. In preliminary work a sensor for these gases was developed and it was demonstrated that its responses can be correlated with various soil properties. In this project, we will seek to prove the that this technology can be used for sub-Sarahan soils. The project will be led by P.E.S. Technologies, a UK-based start-up company that developed the soil gas sensor, in collaboration with iSDA, a not-for-profit spin-out from the African Soil Information System (AfSIS), and World Agroforestry (ICRAF), which is a centre of science and development excellence working with farmers that is based in Kenya.