Delivery of Spatially Explicit Soils Information in Western Kenya.

As population continues to rise, smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa face increasing challenges for obtaining sufficient food, fiber and fuel. Efficient and effective extension services are needed to improve Africa’s agriculture. The goal of this study was to develop a prototype platform that could be used by agricultural extension officers and government agencies to deliver agronomically relevant, spatially explicit soils information in the Uasin Gishu plateau in western Kenya. This was achieved by the use of a knowledge based inference mapping approach that relies on terrain attributes derived from a digital elevation model (DEM), previous soil maps, and ground truthed observations, along with expert knowledge obtained by collaboration with local soil scientists. The result was a digital soil map that captured the specific soils within Uasin Gishu plateau, their respective soil management approaches, and crop suitability specific to each soil type. We tested the delivery of this map in the field in western Kenya using a custom app on a mobile tablet that accessed a server via the cell phone network.