The AfSIS workshop on norms and standards for spatially explicit and evidence based soil management recommendations was arranged in Arusha, Tanzania, between September 23^rd and 25^th. Participants at the workshop included the AfSIS core team and national partners from project countries. As part of the workshop, field demonstrations were conducted in one of the sentinel landscapes in Kisongo, near Arusha. A selection of photographs from the field demonstrations can be viewed here.

Feb. 2009 -- Shamie Zingore and Jeroen Huising

1. Sentinel Site: Nogossire village, Kayes Region

Climate

The site is located in the semi-arid northern edge of the Sudan climatic zone. Annual rainfall averages about 600 mm/yr and falls in a unimodal pattern (June-August). 

April 13th -16th, 2009 -- Shamie Zingore and Jeroen Huising

1. Limpasi Irrigation Scheme, Nkatha Bay District

Location and Climate

The climate in Malawi is largely influenced by Lake Malawi, which covers almost two-thirds of Malawi’s eastern border.  Nkhata Bay District is located in northern Malawi and lies on the shore of Lake Malawi. The area experiences humid savanna climate with annual rainfall averaging 1700 mm. Rainfall distribution is unimodal (October-May).

The project will develop a decision framework that will build on past experimental data (i.e., fertilizer response trials, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) field trials) and new ISFM experimental trials in selected sentinel sites. Legacy data from field trials throughout Africa will initially be used to identify the key factors that determine crop responses to various soil management practices and systems. New experimental trials will be established in selected sentinel sites in four countries (Malawi, Mali, Nigeria and Tanzania; for Kenya we will use existing ongoing trials) to test and to document responses to locally adapted soil management recommendations.