The recent “Hooves of Hope!” webinar marked more than an Earth Day celebration - it became a powerful global conversation about the future of pastoralism, rangelands, and soil health in a rapidly changing climate.

Bringing together distinguished speakers from science, policy, pastoralist communities, and regenerative agriculture, the event was hosted by Soil4Climate in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH), and collaborators from around the world. Timed alongside Earth Day and within the context of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, the webinar the webinar drew strong global engagement, with over 100 viewers. Together, participants explored an urgent question: how do we better recognise the communities and ecosystems already demonstrating resilience in the face of climate uncertainty?

Celebrating International Girls in ICT Day

As a Program Manager at the Varda Foundation, Ester Miglio works at the intersection of soil science, data, and digital innovation, helping transform complex information into tools that can be used in practice. Her role is to connect people, data, and products, ensuring that technical development is grounded in real needs and supports better land-use decisions.

Attending the Knowledge 4 Great Green Wall Action (K4GGWA) Component 2 Regional Capacity Building Workshop in Accra, Ghana from 23rd to 26th March, 2026 was an enriching and transformative experience for the Young Professionals for Agriculture Development (YPARD) Ghana country chapter members. Over four intensive days, the youth engaged with cutting-edge tools, practical methodologies and collaborative learning approaches to strengthen restoration decision-making across landscapes.

From 1st to 9th March 2026, youth, community members and partners under the Towards Ending Drought Emergencies: Ecosystem Based Adaptation in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Rangelands (TWENDE) Project came together to map priority restoration areas across the Chyulu corridor in Kajiado County. Equipped with the Regreening Africa App and guided by local knowledge, youth played a central role in identifying urgent restoration needs and documenting ongoing interventions.

Regional leaders, scientists, policymakers, and development partners gathered at the ICRAF Campus in Nairobi on January 27–28, 2026 for the inception workshop of a groundbreaking initiative: Establishing an ecosystem of soil data-driven services to meet the Global Fertilizer and Soil Health Challenge. The workshop was anchored in the three‑year project titled “Establishing an Ecosystem of Soil Data-Driven Services to Meet the Global Fertilizer and Soil Health Challenge.” The initiative is implemented by CIFOR-ICRAF and the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) in collaboration with the Varda Foundation, with financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). It builds on a soil knowledge exchange pilot conducted in 2024 in Kenya and Tanzania, which identified key barriers and opportunities for strengthening collaborative soil data ecosystems 

Across Africa, large volumes of soil data are collected every year, yet much of this information remains difficult to access, combine, or reuse. Addressing this challenge requires not only better digital tools, but stronger collaboration between the institutions that generate, manage, and use soil data. This was the focus of a two-day technical consultation workshop held in Rome in November 2025, which brought together partners working on the open-source transition of SoilHive.

The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Union Commission have convened a Soil Health Monitoring Task Force to design and operationalize a systematic, scientifically sound monitoring system aligned with the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) process. 

Ahead of the CAADP Partnership Platform (CAADP PP), which took place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 29-31 October 2025, AGRA supported the convening of the Task Team meeting on 27 and 28 October. The validation meeting provided a platform for the Task Force to present its work on building a soil health monitoring system in support of the AFSH Action Plan, including identifying key indicators and a relevant soil health definition. Members of the Task Force and the broader AFSH stakeholder group attended and provided feedback through several participatory workshop sessions.

From 20-24 October 2025, researchers, innovators, public institutions, private sector actors and end users of agricultural technologies in West Africa, convened in Bamako, Mali for the Market for Agricultural Innovations and Technologies (MITA) flagship event. Organized around the theme of "facilitating access to integrated soil management agricultural technologies and innovations," the event is hosted by the Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricoles (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development or CORAF). 

Click to read reflections from CIFOR-ICRAF Scientist, Dr Bertin Takoutsing