AGRICULTURE
The Soil Nutrient Roadmap Program
Why Clear Soil and Fertilizer Data Matters
With roughly 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land, Africa holds immense promise for agricultural growth. Yet degrading soil health and fragmented data systems are preventing effective action from being taken. According to the African Union (AU), about 75-80% of the continent’s cultivated land is degraded, with a loss of 30 to 60 kg of nutrients per hectare per year (a loss of USD $4 billion per year).
In May 2024, African Union Heads of State and Governments signed the Nairobi Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health, a ten-year roadmap to restore Africa’s degraded soils. This ten-year action plan aims to restore 30% of degraded soils by 2034, triple domestic fertilizer production and distribution by 2034, and ensure 70% of smallholders have access to tailored recommendations.
Many countries are developing soil health strategies following the AU’s Action Plan, but strategies require credible numbers to answer questions such as: what are the nutrient gaps; what will it cost to close them; and which investments generate the highest return? The lack of a comprehensive data framework for evidence-based national action plans and investment strategies remains a significant challenge to achieving the Plan’s goals.
about the soil nutrient roadmap
The Soil Nutrient Roadmap (SNR) program helps countries bridge this implementation gap by equipping them with the data, digital tools, and interoperable systems needed to diagnose soil nutrient challenges, co-design targeted solutions, and develop actionable roadmaps. Launched in November 2024, with support from the Gates Foundation, SNR is now active in Ethiopia and Ghana, while exploring opportunities to extend its tools and learning in Kenya and Tanzania, working closely with Ministries of Agriculture, research institutions, and partners to strengthen national soil health strategies in line with the AU’s Action Plan.
Through its three-phase approach – identifying nutrient gaps, designing tailored solutions, and supporting implementation planning – the program supports Ministries of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Institutes, and the private sector to identify critical constraints to improved soil nutrition, crop production, and farmer income.
SNR avoids “complex models.” Instead, it uses a simple, transparent, stakeholder-driven methodology built on trusted datasets:
- The Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM) for crop distribution
- Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture (iSDA) for soil and agronomy data
- The Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) for yield gap analysis
By equipping governments and stakeholders with localized diagnostics, actionable strategies, and digital solutions, SNR supports the development of resilient, evidence-based, and nutrition-sensitive soil health strategies that improve productivity while ensuring sustainability.
Through leveraging international and local data sources, as well as aligning with the AU’s ten-year soil health roadmap, SNR provides a structured way to estimate nutrient requirements, costing scenarios, and environmental implications, helping governments move from ambition to implementation.
impact
SNR’s work demonstrates how evidence can move more efficiently when systems are built around the people who use them. In October 2025, SNR launched an automated yield pipeline that produces national-scale projections in seconds. DG built the models with a policy-first approach, prioritizing how decision-makers would use them, in collaboration with more than 40 government and research stakeholders through validation and co-creation sessions across Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
- In Ethiopia, the Ministry of Agriculture has recognized SNR as an initiative supporting the implementation of its 10-Year Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan. Technical collaboration is now underway within the Ministry.
- Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CSIR, and roadmap design work is advancing with national stakeholders.
This groundwork has opened further conversations, including early discussions with the African Union Commission to support the rollout of its Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan.
SNR is delivered by Development Gateway: An IREX Venture, with technical leadership from iSDA, GYGA, and FAO. Soil degradation statistics are based on AU, FAO, and technical partner data (2024).