. In this forum paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has important links to several of the SDGs, which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions (see graphical abstract in the Supplement). We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally, in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet these goals we recommend the following steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole: (i) embrace the UN SDGs, as they provide a platform that allows soil science to demonstrate its relevance for realizing a sustainable society by 2030; (ii) show the specific value of soil science: research should explicitly show how using modern soil information can improve the results of inter- and transdisciplinary studies on SDGs related to food security, water scarcity, climate change, biodiversity loss and health threats; (iii) take leadership in overarching system analysis of ecosystems, as soils and soil scientists have an integrated nature and this places soil scientists in a unique position; (iii) raise awareness of soil organic matter as a key attribute of soils to illustrate its importance for soil functions and ecosystem services; (iv) improve the transfer of knowledge through knowledge brokers with a soil background; (v) start at the basis: educational programmes are needed at all levels, starting in primary schools, and emphasizing practical, down-to-earth examples; (vi) facilitate communication with the policy arena by framing research in terms that resonate with politicians in terms of the policy cycle or by considering drivers, pressures and responses affecting impacts of land use change; and finally (vii) all this is only possible if researchers, with soil scientists in the front lines, look over the hedge towards other disciplines, to the world at large and to the policy arena, reaching over to listen first, as a basis for genuine collaboration.

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The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations sustainable development goals

The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Maize yield estimation in West Africa from crop process-induced combinations of multi-domain remote sensing indices

Food security, jobs, ecological transition of agricultural production models and consumption patterns... Agroecology could be one of the solutions to meet the future challenges of humanity. Part of the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it requires a lasting commitment from all of us. To meet the food and economic needs of growing rural and urban communities, fulfil increasingly demanding consumer requirements, conserve natural resources and adapt to climate change, we have to find new ways of agricultural production. Over the last decade, CIRAD and AFD have conducted experiments in agroecological transitions with farmers, researchers, development agents and policymakers in many countries of the Global South. In this book, they reflect on the future of agroecology as a way for agriculture in the developing world to adapt to global changes and they examine the conditions necessary for a successful agroecological transition.

The agroecological transition of agricultural systems in the Global South

What resources underpin the development of a territory? What does territorial management of resources mean? What specific characteristics and opportunities does territorial organization offer for agricultural production, regulation of sectors, and services? How are territorial public policies conceived and applied? But also, what are the limits of the territorial approach? How does a territorial approach refashion the frameworks of intervention for development? How do we implement and reinvent mechanisms to provide support, build skills, and promote production and good governance? How do we mobilize information systems, apprehend territorial dynamics, and encourage decentralized planning? Using a wide diversity of case studies, the book explores how actors, scales and scopes of intervention interact in the development of rural spaces in the countries of the Global South, both at the local level and in the global perspective of the objectives of sustainable development. The book brings together the experiences and views of more than 150 researchers and experts from CIRAD, AFD and their partners. It is aimed at researchers, engineers, professionals in the countries of the Global South, as well as students and the wider public. (Resume d'auteur)

Living territories to transform the world

Privatisation of grazing resources is emerging in the agro-pastoral systems of West Africa, resulting in increased pressure on the remaining communal rangelands and greater competition between farmers for access to crop residues. Differential management strategies arise as determined by household diversity. This study quantified the flows of biomass and related nutrient budgets in relation to farm diversity in Koumbia, a representative village of south-western Burkina Faso. Four farm types were identified: subsistence-oriented and market oriented crop farmers, agro-pastoralists and pastoralists. Crop farmers collected about 30 % of their maize harvest residues for feeding during the dry hot season, while agro-pastoralists and pastoralists stocked about 50 % of their maize residues. Whilst the remaining crop residues on (agro)pastoralist farms were almost entirely grazed by their own cattle, about 90 % of the crop residues of crop farmers were consumed by cattle of (agro)pastoralists. On the other hand, available manure from cattle in the village was mainly used to fertilize the fields of the livestock owners. As a result, the cropped land of farmers with few livestock is continuously mined for nutrients. Calculated partial balances of N and K at farm level were negative for all farm types, except for N in the case of pastoralist farms. N and K balances of cropped fields were generally negative on all farm types. Partial balances of P were generally positive, which was to a large extent due to P fertilizer use. Better integration of crop and livestock production activities on farms and between farms offers a pathway to more efficient nutrient cycling with reduced nutrients losses.

Biomass transfers and nutrient budgets of the agro-pastoral systems in a village territory in south-western Burkina Faso

Low crop yields in the savannah zones of West Africa are commonly attributed to rainfall deficits and poor soil fertility. In this study, an assessment was made on how the position of fields belonging to different farm types can explain soil variability and related crop yield gaps in two villages in Burkina Faso, Yilou and Koumbia, located, respectively, in the Sudano-Sahelian and Sudanian agro-ecological zones. In each village, four farm types were identified. Soil fertility was generally poor and use of nutrient inputs low in most of the farmer’s fields . As a consequence, yields for most crops were low, but differences among farm types were found, which can be linked to their socioeconomic characteristics that influence the amount of inputs used. Application of fertilizers differed also between fields within farms and tended to be greater on the fields near the homesteads in the village of Yilou, especially for organic fertilizers. At both villages, the rates of N and K inputs were insufficient to compensate for their respective output rates, leading to negative partial nutrient balances . The existence of patchworks of soil fertility gives rise to a wide variation in crop responses to fertilizers. Exploitable yield gaps were substantial and to a large extent related to the low fertility status of soils and sub-optimal fertilizer applications.

Soil variability and crop yield gaps in two village landscapes of Burkina Faso

Biomass flows in an agro-pastoral village in West-Africa: Who benefits from crop residue mulching?

En Afrique subsaharienne et en Afrique de l'Ouest en particulier, l'augmentation de la pression demographique et le developpement de la traction animale se sont traduits par une extension des surfaces cultivees et des tensions croissantes pour l'utilisation de l'espace agropastorale et des residus de recolte. La recherche/developpement a promu des pratiques et technologies innovantes telles que les fosses fumures ou l'agriculture de conservation qui accentuent l'appropriation des residus de cultures et vraisemblablement les tensions a l'echelle du territoire villageois. L'objectif de cet article est de presenter un modele conceptuel d'analyse avec les acteurs de l'impact de l'agriculture de conservation. Cette etude a ete menee dans deux villages du Burkina situes en zones soudanienne et soudanosahelienne. Une cinquantaine de producteurs ont ete enquetes afin de decrire les echanges de biomasses au sein de l'exploitation ainsi qu'avec les autres producteurs du village. Le modele conceptuel est compose de trois entites. L'entite exploitation qui est le lieu ou les decisions sont prises pour les diverses pratiques (les changements des pratiques d'utilisation de terre, la gestion de la fertilite, etc.), l'entite parcelle ou sont mises en oeuvre ces pratiques et qui ont une influence sur la fertilite de sol et l'entite betail car les animaux par leurs activites participent au transfert de la fertilite et au flux de biomasses. Cet outil reste a implementer sous la plateforme Cormas (Common-pool resources and multiagents systems) afin de realiser des simulations avec la modelisation multi-agent. Il sera utilise en tant qu'outil de discussion concernant differents scenarios d'agriculture de conservation co-construits avec les acteurs impliques au sein des plateformes d'innovation mises en place dans le cadre du projet Abaco qui vise a experimenter cette technique. (Resume d'auteur)

Construction d'un modèle des flux de biomasses pour analyser avec les acteurs l'impact de l'introduction de l'agriculture de conservation sur la gestion de la fertilité à l'échelle du territoire villageois : cas du Burkina Faso

Tidiane Diarisso

Papers

Biomass transfers and nutrient budgets of the agro-pastoral systems in a village territory in south-western Burkina Faso

Soil variability and crop yield gaps in two village landscapes of Burkina Faso

Biomass flows in an agro-pastoral village in West-Africa: Who benefits from crop residue mulching?

Construction d'un modèle des flux de biomasses pour analyser avec les acteurs l'impact de l'introduction de l'agriculture de conservation sur la gestion de la fertilité à l'échelle du territoire villageois : cas du Burkina Faso