Keeling Curve

Primary Project Category:

Project Summary / Description:

This project began through collaborating with Dr Benjamin Warr in Zambia during my Masters research. While in Zambia, I came to the realisation that smallholder farmers are often neglected in terms of soil science research. However, these farmers want this information to improve their productivity and decrease their environmental impact. During this time, Dr Warr was researching how to supply soil information to smallholder farmers in Zambia and asked me if I wanted to form part of the research team.

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

This project focuses on subsistence and smallholder farms in Zambia and previously disadvantaged farmers in South Africa. In Zambia, a mobile spectral laboratory has been established to provide information on proper land use management. Women farmers, although a small population in Zambia, are often the poorest. By supplying proper soil information can help reduce financial burden such as fertilizer cost and increase the productivity of their crops. In South Africa, women have a larger presence and their ownership of farms is increasing, especially in the Eastern Cape province. However, many of these women have little agriculture experience and often do not have as much resources as their male counterparts. This project is intended to supply freely available soil information to these farmers, inform land use change, and proper land use management. Additionally, women form the largest work force in local markets. By empowering local farmers, this project also adds to market stability for women who sell the products.

Although this project focuses on subsistence and smallholder farms, this research is applicable to a wide range of occupations. One of the primary goals of this research is to provide nationwide soil maps of Zambia suitable for all types of agriculture, mining activity and reclamation, and policy making to support economic diversity. I believe mitigating global warming is in interest to all occupations to increase productivity in the future.

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Mission Statement:

Providing detailed spatial soil information to reduce environmental impact, increase agriculture productivity and increase soil information availability. Using freely available satellite information and existing soil data and natural resource inventories, the research produces low cost soil maps and provides land use management consulting. These maps include information on soil carbon content, texture, soil type, nutrient status and chemical properties.