Establishing an ecosystem of soil data-driven services
This initiative addresses the urgent challenges of soil degradation and food insecurity in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania.
It builds on insights from the Global Fertilizer and Soil Health Challenge project (funded by NORAD, Aug 2024–Jan 2025), which highlighted:
The urgent need for accurate soil data.
The importance of making this data accessible.
The role of soil information in guiding and monitoring land.
Project duration: 2025-2027
Donor: Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad)
The project is operationalized in four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
How it works
At the heart of the initiative is a comprehensive soil data infrastructure that enables:
Data-driven soil information services tailored to local needs
Open-source digital products that feed into a Pan-African Soil Information System
Contributions to continental efforts, including the African Union’s Soil Health and Fertilizer Summit and the Kampala Declaration
About SoilHive
SoilHive is a collaborative platform integrating soil data and information from different sources, designed to make this information easily accessible as well as to enable its exchange and reuse.
Together, we aim to transform how soil data is shared and used, building resilience, supporting farmers, and promoting healthier ecosystems across Africa.
The initiative is working toward the following Key Outcomes
Outcome 1. Enhanced access to and use of reliable soil information through an interoperable soil data infrastructure
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Output 1.1
Enhanced and open-source SoilHive platform
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Output 1.2
Operational soil health data service ecosystem
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Output 1.3
Roadmap for national soil health frameworks
Outcome 2. Co-design and scaling of successful soil health use cases
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Output 2.1
Increased awareness on soil health
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Output 2.2
Capacity development workshops tailored to key stakeholders
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Output 2.3
National priority soil health use cases
About the pilot project
Between Aug 2024–Jan 2025, CIFOR-ICRAF, the Varda Foundation, Norad and CA4SH convened national stakeholders to map the state of soil information in Kenya and Tanzania, including through two in-person, in-country workshops.
On 14 January 2025, the pilot culminated in a webinar to share the results of the pilot and chart a way forward for future actions to strengthen the soil information system.
News
Lead Organizations
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Varda Foundation
The Varda Foundation is a nonprofit technology platform enabling farm and field data sharing to support the transition to a global nature-positive food system. Positioned at the intersection of agriculture and technology, the Varda Foundation focuses on enabling the exchange of field data to improve its accessibility beyond the farm gate, thereby strengthening cross-supply chain connectivity. The Foundation hosts the SoilHive platform, a digital tool facilitating access to soil data and enabling collaboration among food and agriculture stakeholders. The Varda Foundation is inspired by its founding investor Yara, a company with over a century's legacy in addressing food crises. It was originally established as a for-profit startup in 2022 but transitioned to a non-profit organization in January 2025.
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CIFOR-ICRAF
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) envision a more equitable world where trees in all landscapes, from drylands to the humid tropics, enhance the environment and well-being for all. CIFOR-ICRAF is a global centre of excellence for soil health and land restoration, integrated soil information, and soil organic carbon accounting, with relevance for food and nutrition security, national restoration goals and climate commitments. Providing rigorous actionable evidence, partnerships and global engagement are core to our work.
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CA4SH
The main objective of the Coalition for Action on Soil Health (CA4SH) is to improve soil health globally by addressing critical implementation, monitoring, policy, and investment barriers that constrain farmers from adopting and scaling healthy soil practices. CA4SH is a motivated, multi-stakeholder approach to strengthen, facilitate and accelerate the adoption and scaling of soil health restoration practices. The 270-member Coalition consists of NGOs, farmer organizations and cooperatives (more than 45% of the membership), working alongside the private sector, governments, national research institutions, and more. CA4SH Is hosted by CIFOR-ICRAF, and is a key supporting partner for aligning stakeholders to support this initiative.
REACH OUT TO COLLABORATE
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Dr Leigh Winowiecki
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Simone Sala
Executive Director, Varda Foundation