Comments on: Brokering Partnerships with USA Land Grant Universities: a step to leverage advanced Science for implementing the Soil Initiative for Africa and AFSH-AP. https://faraafrica.org/2025/10/20/brokering-partnerships-with-usa-land-grant-universities-a-step-to-leverage-advanced-science-for-implementing-the-soil-initiative-for-africa-and-afsh-ap/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brokering-partnerships-with-usa-land-grant-universities-a-step-to-leverage-advanced-science-for-implementing-the-soil-initiative-for-africa-and-afsh-ap Mon, 27 Oct 2025 08:34:24 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.9 By: Krishan Bheenick https://faraafrica.org/2025/10/20/brokering-partnerships-with-usa-land-grant-universities-a-step-to-leverage-advanced-science-for-implementing-the-soil-initiative-for-africa-and-afsh-ap/#comment-64841 Mon, 27 Oct 2025 08:34:24 +0000 https://faraafrica.org/?p=39699#comment-64841 Remind us in a future post about the mechanisms that FARA and AARIEI have or are putting in place to facilitate coordination, coherence and convergence in actions around soil health in Africa. An observatory of initiatives in Africa with regular updates could help to move towards a harmonised approach

]]> By: Christogonus Daudu https://faraafrica.org/2025/10/20/brokering-partnerships-with-usa-land-grant-universities-a-step-to-leverage-advanced-science-for-implementing-the-soil-initiative-for-africa-and-afsh-ap/#comment-64810 Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:32:54 +0000 https://faraafrica.org/?p=39699#comment-64810 Applauding a Strategic Partnership: FARA’s Land Grant University Initiative and the Path to Accelerated Soil Health in Africa

I wish to warmly applaud the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and its partners under the Africa Agricultural Research, Innovation and Education Institutions (AARIEI) for their visionary initiative in brokering partnerships with USA Land Grant Universities to advance the implementation of the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP) held at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas from October 13-15, 2025.

This effort resonates deeply with Africa’s academic and agricultural history. Some of our earliest Faculties of Agriculture in Nigeria were patterned after the U.S. Land Grant model — integrating research, teaching, and extension as a unified approach to national agricultural transformation. Indeed, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where I serve, had a pioneering partnership with Kansas State University that helped shape our institutional framework and capacity for agricultural research and extension excellence.

This renewed engagement with U.S. Land Grant institutions is both strategic and timely. It represents a bold step toward leveraging advanced science, proven technologies, and human capital development to address Africa’s soil health challenges. The initiative will undoubtedly leapfrog the implementation of the SIA by accelerating access to digital soil advisory tools, soil fertility innovations, and sustainable fertilizer management systems.

As Africa commits to restoring its soils for productivity and ecological balance, partnerships like this reaffirm our collective resolve to move from vision to impact — building a future where knowledge, collaboration, and innovation drive agricultural renewal across the continent.

I commend FARA for this strategic move and encourage African institutions to engage fully with this opportunity. History has shown us that such partnerships work. Now is the time to build on that legacy and accelerate Africa’s agricultural transformation through healthy, productive soils.

#FARA #AARIEI #SoilInitiativeforAfrica #AFSHAP #NIFAAS #C4SEAS #SAA #ABU #FOAABU #NAERLS #IAR #LandGrantPartnerships #SoilHealthAfrica #WoleFatunbi #DavidNielsen

]]>