Advancing Togo's National Soil Information System for Sustainable Agriculture

Lomé hosted a three-day workshop to advance and promote Togo’s Soil Information System (SIS), known as FertiTogo. The SIS provides information on soil fertility maps, which is valuable for ensuring sustainable farming and boosting food security. 

 The Regional Hub for Fertilizer and Soil Health for West Africa and the Sahel organized the workshop from June 17 to 19, 2025. They were hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique (ITRA). The workshop brought together government officials, technical experts, and development partners to strengthen Togo’s capacity for soil data management, aiming to boost agricultural productivity through sustainable soil management practices. Key goals of the workshop were to facilitate further development of the existing soil information system in Togo, technical and human capacity assessment, lab capacity assessment, and planning a trial for site-specific nutrient recommendations using AgWise in Togo.  

 Togo faces significant challenges related to outdated soil fertility maps, soil degradation, and inefficient fertilizer use. To combat these challenges, the Regional Hub aims to co-facilitate the improvement of FertiTogo, an interactive digital platform for sustainable crop fertilization. The workshop was inspired by the SIS framework developed by CABI and ISRIC – World Soil Information, and was tailored to meet the specific needs of Togo and the Regional Hub. The framework has been successfully tested through extensive stakeholder consultations in Zambia (April 2024), Ghana (October 2024), and Kenya (February 2025), adding to the national SIS development efforts in those countries. 

 The first two days of the workshop focused on enhancing accessibility and public use of the existing SIS and exploring sustainable technical options for software and hosting within Togo. They also focused on identifying capacity gaps and training needs among stakeholders and securing additional soil data from government and research institutions. Developing a financially sustainable model for the SIS was discussed, as was engaging key partners for large-scale SIS development.  

 On the third day, the workshop conducted a preliminary technical assessment of participating organizations’ capabilities in critical SIS implementation and management areas. These included software capabilities: GIS tools (ArcGIS, QGIS), database management systems (PostgreSQL), OGC web services, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and version control systems. There was also a focus on IT infrastructure: hosting options (on-premises, cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, regional providers), maintenance, high-performance computing, mobile data collection apps (ODK), and help desk systems. The third day also focused on advancing the development of site-specific nutrient recommendations. This was achieved through in-depth discussions on the availability of relevant data and the role of on-farm fertilizer response trials. These are essential inputs for the AgWise decision support tools used to generate context-specific fertilizer recommendations. 

 Participants further discussed the project’s human resources, including the roles of soil scientists, laboratory staff, data curators, GIS analysts, data scientists, developers, and technical support personnel in improving SIS, laboratory services, nutrient omission trial management, and nutrient management recommendations. 

 However, developing a sustainable SIS faces challenges such as capacity gaps, data quality concerns, governance and policy issues, data security, retention of skilled personnel, and inadequate technical infrastructure. Addressing these issues requires strong collaboration among all relevant stakeholders. To support this goal, the workshop was conducted to bring stakeholders together to explore solutions for a sustainable SIS and the challenges hindering its development. 

 The workshop’s output was a comprehensive evaluation of the project’s specific capacity-building and technical development needs. This was an important step toward ensuring that Togolese farmers and policymakers are supported with the necessary data for more productive, efficient, and climate-smart agricultural practices. 

 About the Regional Hub for Fertilizer and Soil Health for West Africa and the Sahel  

 The Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub for West Africa and the Sahel is a collaborative initiative to promote soil health and sustainable fertilizer use in the region. Launched in 2024 as a sub-program of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Hub brings together  diverse stakeholders who include the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), OCP Africa, African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P), and the World Bank through the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project.

The Regional Hub, established by a consortium of organizations, aligns directly with the needs outlined in the Roadmap for Fertilizer and Soil Health inscribed by ECOWAS, World Bank (AICCRA project) and IFDC (September 2023). This strategic alignment underscores the Hub’s direct relevance to the summit’s critical discussions on addressing Africa’s soil health challenges and enhancing agricultural productivity. 

The Regional Hub headquarters is located at the IITA campus in Ibadan, Nigeria.