National soil information systems (NSIS) in Africa: Expert perceptions of status, challenges, and stakeholder collaboration

作者：Georges Kogge Kome, Cédrick Nguemezi, Prudence Mhlophe, Eric Asamoah, Emmanuel Chinweike Nnabuihe, Valantine A. Tellen, Omnia M. Wassif, Caleb Melenya Ocansey, Blessing Agada, Needam G. Baritoesaen, Julius Opio, Benedicta Essel Ayamba, Samuel Ayodele Mesele, Francis B.T. Silatsa, Halimah Ahmad, Wondwesen H. Woldemariam, Thaïsa van der Woude, Chrow Khurshid · 发表于：Soil Advances · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1016/j.soilad.2026.100105 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Soil Geostatistics and Mapping、Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

Soil Information Systems (SIS) are critical frameworks for collecting, managing, and disseminating soil data to guide decision-making towards sustainable agricultural and environmental policies. Despite their global importance, SIS development in Africa remains limited and fragmented. Synthesizing African experts’ knowledge on the requirements and barriers for developing robust and sustainable NSIS in Africa is pressing for effective and prioritized recommendations. A structured questionnaire was used to survey 81 soil information experts from twenty-seven (27) African countries. Close-ended questions were framed to comprehensively assess the understanding and the need for country-based SIS, current data infrastructure, institutional, technical, and financial challenges, stakeholder collaboration and data-sharing mechanisms within the SIS framework. The respondents are staff members of national soil information mandates. Composite indicators were generated by averaging recoded survey items within thematic sections and then subjected to Pearson correlation analysis. Results indicate that >80% of respondents are familiar with the SIS concept, but only a very small proportion (11%) use it daily or weekly. A large majority of respondents (>90%) consider NSIS as a tool for supporting policy processes and boosting agricultural production. With regards to soil data, a substantial volume of Africa’s soil information remains confined to hardcopy archives or fragmented within legacy da...