Progress on Malawi Soil Organic Carbon map

Presented by:

James BandaMinistry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development (MoAIWD)

Presented at Second Workshop of the International Network of Soil Information Institutions ,

FAO, Rome, Italy . 23-25 November 2016

Malawi Soils• The major soil types in Malawi are

dominated by – Luvisols, – Lixisols and– Cambisols.

• Lixisols are dominantly in the northern region, Luvisols in the central, and Cambisols along the Rift Valley and largely in the southern region.

Major soil and natural resources in Malawi

Mapping of soil organic carbon• The Malawi Government is implementing Agriculture Sector

Wide Approach- support Project (ASWAp-Sp ) under ASWAP whose objective is to improve the effectiveness of investments aimed at food security and sustainable agricultural growth.

• Under Component 2 of the project- “Sustainable Food Security, Agricultural Growth and Diversification” there is need to do soil mapping for intervention sites .

• The Departments of Land Resources Conservation (LRCD) and Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS) with financial support from ASWAP are jointly conducting soil mapping and production of soil maps in Malawi which include mapping of Organic Carbon.

Mapping of soil organic carbon

• Soil samples were collected in the project implementing districts. The soils were tested against pH, organic matter, Nitrogen, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Iron and copper.

• Specifically soil maps for two districts (Nsanje and Phalombe) have been produced which include organic carbon

• A great part of the district has medium percentage of organic carbon

• The district has larger proportion of low carbon

Other soil parameters being mapped

• several soil parameters were mapped apart from Carbon which included soil organic Matter, pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc and Calcium

Other activities implemented so far...• Updated soil loss rates in Malawi

Other activities implemented so far…

• Updated land cover and land cover change for the country

Challenges and Suggested Options

• Lack of coordination among stakeholders on soil data updating- many players are collecting soil data- creating a forum on soil data generation is important

• Limited financial resources to carry out the soil data updating activities-lobby for more resources from donor community and other players

• Lack of skills by extension workers to collect soil data- capacity building on soil data collection needed.

THE ENDTHANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION