Scaling Technology Adoption for Soil Health: A Focus on Africa

The report analyzes soil health in Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa, identifying severe soil erosion, nutrient depletion, and low soil organic carbon (SOC) as primary barriers to food security. It argues that while farmers possess significant qualitative knowledge of soil health, they lack the tools and financial resources to implement improvements. The document proposes five key recommendations: enhancing extension services, digitalizing agriculture, applying climate-smart agriculture, reversing fertility decline through increased fertilizer availability, and developing high-quality, locally adapted seeds. The report estimates that a 10 percentage point increase in the adoption of improved seeds, fertilization, and climate-smart practices could increase maize yields by 882,817 tonnes and add $1 billion to farmer income across Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.

• A 10 percentage point increase in the adoption of improved fertilization, high-quality seeds, and climate-smart agriculture could result in a combined yield increase of 882,817 tonnes and $1 billion in additional farm income across Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.
• Soil erosion in East Africa increased significantly between 1995 and 2017, with average soil loss rising from 0.3 to 0.5 tonnes/hectare/year, largely driven by unsustainable farming and the conversion of forests to croplands.
• In West Africa, soil degradation is severe; Nigeria faces high erosion rates—reaching 4,185 t/ha/yr in Katsina—while Ghana experiences annual nutrient losses of 35 kg of nitrogen, 4 kg of phosphorus, and 20 kg of potassium per hectare.
• Southern Africa suffers from extensive soil erosion and low soil organic carbon (SOC); in South Africa, 58% of soils contain less than 0.5% organic carbon, and the national average soil loss rate is 12.6 t/ha/yr.
• Farmers generally possess qualitative knowledge of soil health (e.g., soil color and crop performance) that aligns with scientific data, but they are often hindered by a lack of resources, training, and misconceptions about fertilizer quality.
• The report recommends five primary interventions to improve soil health: enhancing extension services, digitalizing agriculture for better data availability, implementing climate-smart agriculture (such as contour ploughing), increasing fertilizer availability to reverse fertility decline, and researching high-quality, locally adapted seed cultivars.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Scaling Technology Adoption for Soil Health: A Focus on Africa. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Scaling_Technology_Adoption_for_Soil_Health_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Scaling Technology Adoption for Soil Health: A Focus on Africa. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Scaling_Technology_Adoption_for_Soil_Health_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Scaling Technology Adoption for Soil Health: A Focus on Africa |date=September 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Scaling_Technology_Adoption_for_Soil_Health_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024scaling, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Scaling Technology Adoption for Soil Health: A Focus on Africa}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Scaling_Technology_Adoption_for_Soil_Health_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }