This page list the standard operating procedures, guidelines and protocols developed and used by Soils4Africa project for continental soil monitoring and assessment, as well as several other relevant resources for continental-level soil survey in Africa
This report describes the guidelines or the organization and execution of the Soils4Africa field campaign. These guidelines formed the basis for the development of the standard operating procedures for field sampling were developed. This report provides requirements for all stages of the fieldwork such as soil sampling field observations, georeferencing, labelling, transport, storage and preparation of the samples. This includes the additional observations at the reference sites and the approach for soil pollution assessment.
Citation: Huising, E.J., Leenaars, J., Csorba, A., Felix da Graca Silva, V. 2021. Detailed guidance for field work. Soils4Africa Project Report D3.3. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
This report provides information on the types of analyses that will be performed, including protocols, equipment and any other critical information. This includes training requirements as well as the procedure to relate the wet chemistry with the spectroscopy results.
Citation: Patterson, G. 2021. Guidance for the laboratory analysis. Soils4Africa Project Report D3.4. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
This report describes the protocols and instructions for the field surveyor for conducting the Soils4Africa field campaign. It details the equipment needed, how to deal with safety and security issues, how to navigate to a designated sampling location, collection of the soil sample and taking field observations on soil and sampling site.
Citation: Huising, E.J., Mesele, S., 2022. Protocol for field survey – Guidelines for field surveyors on soil sample collection and field assessment of agricultural lands in Africa. Soils4Africa Project Report D4.2A. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
Soils4Africa Field Protocol (English)
This report sets out the protocols for the management of the Soils4Africa field survey by the country supervisors. It explains the procedures used to select and contract field surveyors, to quality control the submitted field observations, to provide technical support to the surveyors, to monitor and report progress and to prepare, select, ship and store soil samples.
Citation: Huising, E.J., Mesele, S., 2022. Protocol for field survey management. Soils4Africa Project Report D4.2B. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
This report provides a stepwise instructions to soil surveyors to prepare for the field campaign, to navigate to the sampling location and evaluate the suitability of that location for sampling with the ODK Collect tool, to layout the sampling plot and to take a composite soil sample and to register soil and site characteristics with ODK Collect.
Citation: Huising, E.J., Mesele, S., 2022. Standard Operating Procedure for soil sample collection and field observations. Soils4Africa Project Report. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
This report explains the Soils4Africa standard operating procedure (SOP) for the preparation and shipment of the soil samples.
Citation: Huising, E.J., Mesele, S., 2023. Standard Operating Procedure – Sample Preparation and Shipment. Soils4Africa Project Report. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
Soils4Africa Sample Preparation & Shipment Protocol (English)
‘Reference sites’ are special sampling sites in the Soils4Africa soil survey. At these sites, additional soil samples are collected in addition to a ‘regular’ Soils4Africa soil sample. These samples are unit-volume samples taken from a mini pit dug at the sampling site. Besides, the mini pits are used to take additional observations on the soil profile. This document describes the standard operating procedures for taking soil samples at a Soils4Africa reference site.
Citation: Csorba, A., 2022. Reference Site Soil Sampling Protocol. Soils4Africa Project Report. EU Horizon 2020 Grant agreement ID: 862900. Doi: 10.3030/862900
The Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) project aimed to provide a consistent baseline for monitoring soil ecosystem services across Africa. For this purpose, AfSIS established 60 sentinel landscapes that were intensively sampled and described. This document provides the technical specifications for the soil and land survey at the sentinel landscapes as well as for soil sample analyses.
Citation: Vågen, T.-G., Sheperd, K.D., Walsh, M.G., Winowiecki, L., Desta, L.T., Tondoh, J.E., 2010. AfSIS Technical Specifications - Soil Health Surveillance, World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya.
The field methods employed in the soil health component of the AfSIS (Africa Soil Information Service) project are referred to as the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF). This field guide outlines field protocols for measuring indicators of the “health” of an ecosystem, including vegetation cover, structure and floristic composition, historic land use, visible signs of soil degradation, and soil physical characteristics. It is designed to provide a biophysical baseline at landscape level, and a monitoring and evaluation framework for assessing processes of land degradation and the effectiveness of rehabilitation measures over time.
Citation: Vågen, T-G; Winowiecki, L., Walsh, M.G., Desta, L.T., Tondoh, J., 2010. Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LSDF): field guide. International Center for Tropical Agriculture, World Agroforestry Centre, and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Please note that this website is still under construction. Functionality of the soil information system is limited.
We expect to release this soil information system of Africa, developed under the EU-funded 'Soils4Africa' project, by 31 May 2025.
