Soil fertility management and sustainable livelihoods: New approaches to the policy process (Part 1: Country reports)

This report presents the outputs from the first phase of a study commissioned as a resultof the UK Department for International Development's (DFID) interest in contributing to policy debate on soil fertility management in Sub Saharan Africa. This work originally envisaged consideration of appropriate engagement with global initiatives, specifically the Soil Fertility Initiative (SFI) for Sub Saharan Africa, launched in 1996 by the World Bank. Subsequent to the work being commissioned it became apparent that the SFI was in a state of evolution and while discussions were held with various organisations it is considered that it is no longer appropriate to include these within this report. The primary focus of the study has been on lower levels in the policy process within seven countries representing a range of ecological, economic and political conditions. This focus on specific countries recognises that while global initiatives have a contribution in terms of raising the profile of soil fertility as an issue that should concern governments and development agencies, solutions and options for addressing soil fertility in the context of poor people's livelihoods require a more location specific approach. A major challenge explored by the country studies is how best to foster a process whereby policy and thinking at higher levels is informed by and responsive to more local level knowledge, interests and capacity