report on the near east & north africa soil partnership (nena)

Report on the Regional Soil Partnership

Rachid Moussadek andMahmoud Alferihat

Near East and North Africa

Introduction• The Near East and North Africa (NENA) Soil Partnership

was established in April 2012 during the Inception Workshop (Amman – Jordan).

• Governance: • Steering committee:

Mr. Hamdan bin Salem Al-Wahaibi (Oman) – Chair

Ms. Iman Sahib Salman (Iraq) - Vice Chair

Mr. Abdelmagid Ali Elmobarak (Sudan) – Member

Ms. Aline Saker (Lebanon)- Member

Mr. Mahmoud Hasan Alfraihat (Jordan) - NENA SP secretariat

Mr. Mohamed Yacoub (Libya) – Member

Mr. Rachid Moussadek (Morocco) – Member

Introduction• Focal Points: thirty focal points, alternate focal points

and representatives of regional and international institutes from the NENA countries

• Chairs of pillars:

Mr. Hedi Hamrouni (Pillar 1),

Mr. Ali Hameed Al Sabani (Pillar 2),

Mr. Rafaat Kamal Yacoup (Pillar 3),

Mr. Rachid Moussadek (Pillar 4),

Mr. Imad Ghanma (pillar 5)

Achievements since last 3rd Plenary Assembly 2015

• “NENA Soil Partnership Conference: towards aregional implementation plan on sustainablemanagement of soil resources”, 1˗3 June 2015,Amman, Jordan.

• The NENA Implementation Plan Finalized through aconsultative process.

NENA Soil Information System

• NENA Soil Information System

Achievements since last 3rd Plenary Assembly 2015

• Capacity Development session on Digital Soil Mapping; 29 Nov 2015 - 7 Dec 2015, Amman - Jordan the training was divided in the five phases:

Phase 1: Data preparation and management with examplesin North-west Jordan and in the NENA region

Phase 2: Theoretical background on concepts, theories, and mapping requirements in DSM

Phase 3: Hands-on practical implementation using the DSM tools and methods

Phase 4: Field tour visit

Phase 5: Practical application of DSM products in land suitability mapping for sustainable soil management

24 Participants from NENA

Pillars/ImplementationRegional Implementation Plan (RIP)

Pillar One: Promote sustainable management of soil resources andimproved global governance for soil protection and sustainableproductivity.

Expected outputs:• A soil decision support system (SDSS) is built and soil

quality and hot spots are assessed and immediateactions designed.

• Soil rehabilitation programs including documentationof best SSM/SLM practices and scaling out to areas athigh risk of soil degradation implemented.

• Impact of implementation on achieving sustainablesoil management assessed and monitored.


Pillar two: Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy,education, awareness and extension in soils

Expected outputs :• Investment in soil rehabilitation/restoration and

management promoted.• The role of policy, civil societies and soil institutions to

support soil management enhanced.• Key messages to create awareness campaign to target the

civil society and non- soil specialists through TV and othermedia implemented.

• Capacity building in soil related topics, soil science ineducation and extension promoted.


Pillar three: Promote targeted soil research and developmentfocusing on identified gaps, priorities and synergies amongeconomic/productive, environmental and social dimensions

Expected outputs:• Integrated research for development approach targeting

soil challenges within specific agro-ecosystems orlandscape established.

• Focused research on the economics of soil managementand benefit to the ecosystem established.

• Centre of Excellence for soil research in NENA regionEstablished.


Pillar four: Enhance the quality and availability of soil data andinformation: collection, analysis, validation, reporting, monitoring,integration with other disciplines

Expected outputs:• Soil data needed by different stakeholders defined and

soil information system for the NENA region established.• Indicators to monitor the status of soil health and

productivity in line with Sustainable Development Goalestablished and adopted

• Tools to provide/derive soil information for variousdemands and at different levels of detail generated andsustainable soil management supported.


Pillar five: Harmonization of methods, measurements andindicators for the sustainable management and protection of soilresources

Expected outputs:• Methods of soil description, sampling, and analysis

harmonized.• Assessment criteria for soil health and land degradation

(erosion, salinity, fertility etc) harmonized across theNENA region, exchange and linkages with UNCCD and SDGfacilitated.

• Land evaluation criteria across the region harmonized.• Soil classification and profile description data sheets

harmonized.

Budget for ImplementationResource envelopes by Pillar USDPromote sustainable management of soil resources forsoil protection, conservation and sustainable productivity(Pillar 1)

3,900,000

Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy,education, awareness and extension in soils (Pillar 2)

750,000

Promote targeted soil research and development focusingon identified gaps and priorities and synergies withrelated productive, environmental and socialdevelopment actions (Pillar 3)

4,000,000

Enhance the quantity and quality of soil data andinformation: data collection (generation), analysis,validation, reporting, monitoring and integration withother disciplines (Pillar 4)

1,300,000

Harmonization of methods, measurements and indicators for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources (Pillar 5)

1,100,000

Total Activities 11,050,000Technical support, reporting, evaluation, other costs 2,688,800TOTAL 13,738,800

Future planning• Short-term (2016-2017)

• Resume the development of the soil information system for the NENA region.

• Capacity development on digital soil mapping – application and on-the-job training.

• Capacity development (on-line courses) on sustainable soil management and soil restoration.

• Long-term (>2017)• Full execution of the NENA Implementation Plan. Resource

mobilization is a precondition for this: responsibility of all partners to support the implementation.

Concluding remarks

• NENA Implementation Plan finalized through consultation process and participation of representatives from the NENA countries and regional/international institutions.

• The plan details the activities and anticipated outputs based on the regional challenges and gaps.

• Resources to commence some activities were secured and implementation is on-going.

Concluding remarks

• The steering committee of the NENA Regional Soil Partnership appreciate your guidance and suggestions on resources mobilization to support implementation …

report on the near east & north africa soil partnership (nena)

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