permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/may/23/africa-soil-diversity-mapped?CMP=twt_gu#_

Africa's soil diversity mapped for the first time

Atlas drawn up by international experts aims to expand understanding of
soil and how Africa can manage it sustainably

Read the full article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/may/23/africa-soil-diversity-mapped#ixzz2UbqN8BbE

A team of international experts has drawn up the Soil Atlas of
Africa<http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/library/maps/africa_atlas/index.html>–
the first such book mapping this key natural resource – to help
farmers,
land managers and policymakers understand the diversity and importance of
soil <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/soil>, and the need to manage
it through sustainable use.

They say that despite soil's importance, most people in
Africa<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa>lack knowledge about it,
partly because information tends to be confined to
academic publications read only by scientists.

"There was an existing database on soil that had not been updated by soil
science experts from Africa, so we asked them to provide us with new
information, which we translated into a form understandable to key
stakeholders," said Arwyn Jones, a member of the soil team at the land
resource management unit of the European commission's joint research
centre<http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/the-institute/units/land-resource-management.html>,
which produced the atlas.

The project began four years ago, and involved experts from the European
commission, the African Union (AU) and the UN Food and
Agriculture<http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/agriculture>Organisation.
The atlas was released at the meeting of the AU and EU
commissions in Addis Ababa last month.

Read the full article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/may/23/africa-soil-diversity-mapped#ixzz2UbqiIU2C