The session, “Advancing Soil Data and Evidence for Rangeland Restoration, LDN Reporting and Decision Making,” brought together perspectives on how soil information systems, harmonised monitoring approaches, open-data platforms and community-led monitoring can strengthen LDN reporting while making evidence more useful to practitioners, policymakers and investors.

The recent establishment of a mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy laboratory at the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in the capital city of Banjul is set to bring wide-reaching benefits to decision-making by providing inclusive and fast analysis compared to conventional laboratory techniques. MIR offers a faster, more inclusive and cost-effective way to analyse soil health, enabling large-scale projects, including national surveys and supporting sustainable farming and landscape restoration.

The MIR lab in The Gambia is part of a growing network led by CIFOR-ICRAF’s Soil-Plant Spectral Diagnostics Laboratory in Nairobi, which has pioneered dry spectral soil analysis across Africa since 2009.