The African Union Commission (AUC) through its Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (DARBE), in collaboration with the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHDS) and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), with support of technical institutions and development partners will commemorate the 21st edition of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) and the 16th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS), in Kigali Rwanda, from 29 October to 31 October 2025.
The commemoration of this year’s CAADP PP and ADFNS is centered on the theme ‘‘From Malabo to Kampala: Accelerating Just, Resilient Agrifood Systems Transformation for Nutrition and Sustainable Growth”. The 21st CAADP PP, and 16th ADFNS aim to accelerate readiness for the implementation of the Kampala CAADP Declaration and other AU Declarations such as the Soil Health and Fertiliser, Seed and Biotechnology, the Africa Climate Summit, and global agendas like UNFSS+4. These emphasise core levers for transforming Africa’s agrifood systems, including equity, financing, climate resilience, nutrition, and innovation.
CA4SH Side Event | Implementing soil health in CAADP: Linking soil health monitoring to implementation
Healthy soil provides multiple ecosystem servies, including water regulation, climate adaptation and mitigation, habitat for biodiversity and nutrients for plants. However, over one-third of the Earth’s surface is degraded. Urgent investments in soil health are needed to inform decision making across policy, financing and implementation.
Part of the solution is the investment in generation of robust data on the impact of land management on soil health, over time. Soil health monitoring is vital for a number of reasons. For example, the data gathered are crucial to guide decisions on implementation, financing and policy. These data need to be shared in an accerssible format to inform decision making. This session will highlight progress on the Monitoring Task Force, highlight advances in soil health monitoring and demonstrate on the ground progress to scale soil health solutions.
Date/Time: 13:30-15:00, 31 October 2025
Organizers: AUDA-NEPAD, AUC, GIZ, CIFOR-ICRAF, Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), NORAD
Speakers:
H.E. Moses Vilakati, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, AUC
Director Esterine Fotabong, Director of Agriculture, Food Security, and Environmental Sustainability, AUDA-NEPAD
Dr. Teklu Erkossa, Program manager for Soil Health Project, GIZ, Ethiopia - member of Soil Health Action Working group, technically supported IGAD regional soil health hub and Ethiopian National Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan
Elvis Weullow, Senior Lab Entreprise Manager, Soil and Land Health Theme, CIFOR-ICRAF - Member of Soil Health Action working 2 and 4 Group
Dr. Portia Phohlo, Sustainable Agriculutra Researcher at Trace and Save, South Africa – Co-Chair of the Soil Health Action Working Group
Alice G. Nyaga, Chief Superintending Engineer working in the Agricultural Land Management Unit, Agricultural Engineering Services, State Department for CropsEngineer, Kenyan Government
Blessing Akhile, Food and Agriculture Programme Advisor, Action Aid, member of Soil Health Action Working Group in Nigeria
Norway representative
Resources:
AUDA-NEPAD/NORAD Briefs on Strengthening Soil Information Systems (SIS)
Insight Brief: https://www.nepad.org/publication/insight-brief-imperative-strengthening-soil-information-systems-africa
Policy Brief: https://www.nepad.org/publication/imperative-strengthening-soil-information-systems-africa-reflections-and-key-0
Guidance Note: https://www.nepad.org/publication/guidance-note-advancing-africas-soil-health-monitoring-support-nairobi
Soil Health on the African Continent: