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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>iSDA</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/</link><description>Recent content on iSDA</description><generator>Hugo</generator><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Mon, 14 Oct 2024 12:36:11 +0100</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.isda-africa.com/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title>Developer Portal</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/developer/</link><pubDate>Fri, 08 Jul 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/developer/</guid><description/></item><item><title>FAQs</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/faq/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/faq/</guid><description/></item><item><title>Technical Information</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/technical-information/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/technical-information/</guid><description><h1 id="how-were-these-maps-made">How were these maps made?</h1>
<p>Welcome to this brief guide on the work behind our mapping technology. We hope it will give you a good understanding of the unique process we’ve developed to create our maps. For detailed information on our workflow, please read our paper in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-85639-y">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.</p>
<p>Our key output is spatial predictions of crucial soil nutrients and properties, based on the predictive soil mapping (PSM) techniques. The first step in this process is to standardise all the input soil data by i) ensuring all measured units are in the same format; ii) harmonizing properties measured using different techniques; and iii) removing any erroneous datapoints.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDAsoil on the AWS Registry of Open Data</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/isdasoil-on-aws/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/isdasoil-on-aws/</guid><description><p>This page contains information about how to access the <a href="https://registry.opendata.aws/isdasoil/">iSDAsoil data hosted on the AWS Registry of Open Data</a>, as well as background information about the dataset that will help you to use it. To visually explore the maps that we’ve created, please visit the <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil">iSDAsoil homepage</a>. You can find more detailed information on how the maps were made on our <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/technical-information">technical information</a> and further information on our <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/faq">FAQ</a> pages.</p>
<h1 id="data-overview">Data Overview</h1>
<p>All data has been prepared as cloud-optimised geoTIFFs (essentially geographically aware images). A single file covers the whole of Africa. Related data have been grouped together as bands in a single file. For most soil property predictions, this means that each file has 4 bands – the predicted mean value, and model error (expressed as 1 standard deviation) at 2 soil depths: 0-20cm and 20-50cm. For covariate data the number of bands is variable.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDA Announces New Board Member: Mr Richard Sears</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/announcing-our-new-board-member-richard-sears/</link><pubDate>Mon, 14 Oct 2024 12:36:11 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/announcing-our-new-board-member-richard-sears/</guid><description><p>We are excited to announce the appointment of Mr Richard Sears to the iSDA Board of Directors. With a diverse career spanning across multiple sectors including technology, finance and non-profit work, Richard is an accomplished entrepreneur and investor. His extensive global experience covers regions such as Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, where he has successfully launched multiple ventures, non-profits, and funds.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3 id="our-new-board-member"><strong>Our New Board Member</strong></h3>
<p> </p>
<p>Richard currently serves as Investment Director at Kuvi Capital, where he leads venture and private equity investments, managing a portfolio of 25 companies across Europe, Africa, and the U.S. Prior to this, he played a key role as Head of Ventures at The Baobab Network, an accelerator supporting early-stage African tech companies. His work has empowered over 25 start-ups across 11 African countries, in partnership with global investors and corporations.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDA Africa Announces Exciting Partnership With Niger Foods</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/isda-africa-working-in-partnership-with-niger-foods-to-revolutionise-agriculture-with-virtual-agronomist/</link><pubDate>Fri, 04 Oct 2024 15:16:23 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/isda-africa-working-in-partnership-with-niger-foods-to-revolutionise-agriculture-with-virtual-agronomist/</guid><description><p>In a significant step towards transforming agriculture in Nigeria, we are excited to announce a groundbreaking partnership with <a href="https://nigerfoods.com">Niger Foods</a> to deliver AI-powered advisory services to farmers in the Niger State!</p>
<p>As part of this partnership, we will deploy our <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist/">Virtual Agronomist AI advisory service</a> to provide maize, soybean, and rice farmers with real-time, data-driven insights and advice to enhance crop management and increase yields.</p>
<p>Our service will provide personalised recommendations for essential agricultural practices, including fertiliser application and pest control, tailored to the unique conditions of each farm and will assist the farmers in improving their soil health by identifying nutritional deficiencies and suggesting the application of the correct nutrient balance.</p></description></item><item><title>Stories From the Field: A Female Focus</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/stories-from-the-field-a-female-focus/</link><pubDate>Thu, 19 Sep 2024 20:16:04 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/stories-from-the-field-a-female-focus/</guid><description><p>As the global agricultural landscape evolves, the role of women in farming is increasingly recognised as a vital force for sustainable development. In our “Stories from the Field” series, we seek to highlight the experiences of our farmers and agronomists across Africa. This article focuses on some of the women in Uganda who leverage <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist/">Virtual Agronomist</a> to enhance their agricultural practices, boost their maize yields, and improve their quality of life.</p></description></item><item><title>Virtual Agronomist Update: Our New Image-Based Pest and Disease Feature</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/new-image-based-pest-and-disease-tool/</link><pubDate>Thu, 25 Jul 2024 19:26:24 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/new-image-based-pest-and-disease-tool/</guid><description><p>At iSDA, we are proud of our <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist/">Virtual Agronomist</a> service and its ability to improve farmers&rsquo; crop yield and soil health. Our service uses artificial intelligence to communicate directly with farmers on WhatsApp, giving them personalized nutrient plans and essential agronomic advice for their crops and soil.</p>
<p>Virtual Agronomist offers farmers <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/virtual-agronomist-feature-focus/">many helpful agronomic services</a>, including a diagnostic pest and disease feature that asks farmers questions about their plants&rsquo; growth and any issues they notice that concern them, for example, insect larvae, lesions, leaf discoloration, or head smut. The information is then processed by our scientific model, which provides a likely diagnosis and suggests treatments. It can also estimate the potential impact on crop yields if the issue is not managed properly.</p></description></item><item><title>Virtual Agronomist: Feature Focus</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/virtual-agronomist-feature-focus/</link><pubDate>Fri, 28 Jun 2024 18:25:01 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/virtual-agronomist-feature-focus/</guid><description><p>Our new generation <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist/">Virtual Agronomist</a> service uses artificial intelligence to communicate directly with farmers through WhatsApp and provide tailored nutrient plans and other essential agronomic advice for their plots.</p>
<p>So far, <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/10000-farmers-next-generation-virtual-agronomist-launches-in-kenya-and-uganda/">we have launched our AI chatbot service in Kenya and Uganda for maize and rice</a>. Additionally, preparations are underway to launch Virtual Agronomist in Zambia for maize crops within the next few months. Virtual Agronomist supports the farmer with tailored advice throughout the season and can prompt and remind them of vital agronomic operations, for example, field mapping, soil data for their field, tailored nutrient plans, checking crop emergence, scouting for weeds, pests, and diseases, and harvesting. Through the features of our Virtual Agronomist service, farmers have the tools and advice they need to improve their crop health, yields and profits through better agronomic management.</p></description></item><item><title>10,000 Farmers: Next Generation Virtual Agronomist Launches in Kenya and Uganda</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/10000-farmers-next-generation-virtual-agronomist-launches-in-kenya-and-uganda/</link><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jun 2024 17:47:37 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/10000-farmers-next-generation-virtual-agronomist-launches-in-kenya-and-uganda/</guid><description><p>We are thrilled to announce that our next generation <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist/">Virtual Agronomist</a>, has amassed 10,000 users across Kenya and Uganda in less than four weeks. We are immensely proud to see such fast uptake of the work we have been doing behind the scenes and on the ground to improve the livelihoods of farmers in Africa.</p>
<p>Unlike our previous mobile application, our new generation of Virtual Agronomist uses artificial intelligence to communicate directly with farmers through WhatsApp and provide tailored nutrient plans and other agronomic advice for their plots. In February 2024, we launched our AI chatbot service in Kenya and Uganda for rice and maize to help farmers improve their yields and profits through better agronomic management. We wanted farmers to be able to have this vital agricultural information at their fingertips without common barriers, such as expensive land surveyor costs and lack of modern phone technology.</p></description></item><item><title>The Nairobi Declaration 2024: Results from the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/nairobi-declaration-2024/</link><pubDate>Wed, 29 May 2024 11:30:37 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/nairobi-declaration-2024/</guid><description><p>From the 7th to the 9th of May 2024, the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit took place in Nairobi, Kenya. The summit brought together relevant key players in the agricultural industry to establish new policies and investments that will improve soil health and increase yield responses for farmers across Africa.</p>
<p>Bruce Kisitu, our director of operations at iSDA, was engaging and collaborating with government officials and industry stakeholders at AFSHS 2024, to encourage transformative change in the African agricultural sector. He brought awareness to <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/">iSDAsoil</a>, our open access soil health data map, and encouraged a continent-wide collaboration on soil data collection.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDA Soil: The Backbone of Virtual Agronomist</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/isda-soil-the-backbone-of-virtual-agronomist/</link><pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2024 09:29:53 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/isda-soil-the-backbone-of-virtual-agronomist/</guid><description><p>At iSDA, we have created the first field-level soil map for Africa, which estimates over twenty soil properties across the entire continent. These properties range from chemical factors, like aluminium and pH levels, to physical factors, such as clay content and slope angles, and soil nutrients like potassium and zinc. Our soil map at <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/">iSDAsoil</a> stands out as the sole resource that predicts soil properties at 30 m resolution for the entire continent. This sets it apart from global soil maps, which typically offer resolutions of 250 m. Our higher spatial resolution enhances the precision of our predictions.</p></description></item><item><title>Promising Future Yield Responses With Virtual Agronomist in Zambia</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/promising-future-yield-responses-with-virtual-agronomist-in-zambia/</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:01:37 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/promising-future-yield-responses-with-virtual-agronomist-in-zambia/</guid><description><p>Maize is a staple food for over half of the Zambian population and is cultivated by around eighty percent of smallholder farmers in the country. However, despite this, maize yield per hectare has often been significantly low, with farmers only averaging around 1.5 tonnes per hectare. Contributing factors to this low yield include drought brought about by climate change, pests and diseases, nutrient-deficient soils, and suboptimal agronomic practices. During our pilot programmes in the 2023/2024 season, iSDA partnered with IAPRI (Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute) to deliver tailored fertiliser recommendations to farmers in Zambia with an objective to increase maize yield by half and raise awareness of soil fertility levels across smallholder farms in the districts of Monze and Kapiri Mposhi.</p></description></item><item><title>Three Times More Yield for Tanzanian Farmers With Virtual Agronomist</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/tanzania-three-times-more-yield/</link><pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2024 12:51:32 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/tanzania-three-times-more-yield/</guid><description><p>At iSDA, we have been seeing fantastic positive yield responses with <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist/">Virtual Agronomist</a> across a range of crops and countries, including maize in Côte D’Ivoire, barley and sorghum in Uganda, coffee in Kenya and rice in Zambia.</p>
<p>One of the most notable responses comes from sunflower and rice farmers in Tanzania whose crops are showing impressive yield results and offering positive predictions in growth and profit.</p>
<p>In 2022 we started a pilot programme in Tanzania with sunflower farmers in Singida, Iringa, Manyara and Dodoma with Pyxus International. Using Virtual Agronomist, our tailored advisory service, the Field Technicians generated specific nutrient recommendations for each farmer along with suggestions to improve agronomic practices. We demonstrated that the prospective yield and profit results with Virtual Agronomist were on average three times the farmer’s previous practice, when accompanied by good agronomic management.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDAsoil used in malaria mapping study</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-07-28-isdasoil-malaria-mapping/</link><pubDate>Fri, 28 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-07-28-isdasoil-malaria-mapping/</guid><description><p>iSDA’s soil and agronomy map iSDAsoil was recently used by scientists to create a framework to map the malaria exposure levels of Africans living in towns and cities.</p>
<p>Though iSDAsoil is primarily used by iSDA as input for Virtual Agronomist, which determines the best use and combinations of fertilisers on their land, it also contains information on different chemical and physical soil properties that were used by these scientists.</p>
<p>Soil pH has an effect on the habitats of the Anopheles mosquito which transmits malaria. The scientists in this study therefore incorporated soil pH data to further determine the possible habitats of the mosquitoes. For this, they used open data from iSDAsoil at a depth of 0–20 cm.</p></description></item><item><title>Sustain Africa - increasing access to affordable fertiliser at scale</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-06-22-sustain-africa/</link><pubDate>Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-06-22-sustain-africa/</guid><description><p>As fertiliser prices continued to spike due to the Russia/Ukraine conflict, iSDA joined the <a href="https://sustainafrica-initiative.org">Sustain Africa</a> initiative in 2022 to increase African farmers&rsquo; access to affordable fertiliser.</p>
<p>The initiative is a partnership between multiple organisations including the International Fertilizer Association, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, African Fertilizer, Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) and AGRA. It has already targeted 1.5 million farmers across the continent.</p>
<p>A great challenge when it comes to fertiliser use in Africa is the lack of precision in delivering the correct chemical formulation needed for each patch of farmland. Not all soils are formed or managed equally.</p></description></item><item><title>CEO Announcement</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-06-08-ceo-announcement/</link><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-06-08-ceo-announcement/</guid><description><p>On behalf of the iSDA Board and team, I am delighted to announce Jamie Collinson as our new Chief Executive Officer.</p>
<p>Jamie has been instrumental to iSDA’s development since joining as Chief Technology Officer in 2020. His appointment to CEO reflects our firm belief, demonstrated over iSDA&rsquo;s initial discovery phase, that a technology and science-driven approach will unlock agricultural productivity across the African continent.</p>
<p>Jamie is a world-class technologist, and has a demonstrated track record of growing early stage businesses to success. I have every confidence that his skills and leadership will take iSDA through our next phase of maturity into industry leadership, and accelerate our mission to bring individually tailored advice to millions of farmers across Africa.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDA releases a large soil analysis dataset for Africa</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-03-16-soil-data-release/</link><pubDate>Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2023-03-16-soil-data-release/</guid><description><p>ISDA is proud to release a large dataset of analysed soil samples covering the African continent. These data are analysis-ready and do not require any preprocessing before usage. The dataset was collected and analysed according to protocols created by the African Soil Information Service (AfSIS) project (<a href="https://worldagroforestry.org/sites/default/files/afsisSoilHealthTechSpecs_v1_smaller.pdf">Vågen T-G et al., 2010</a>). AfSIS was an initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at improving soil information across Africa. Data were collected and analysed between 2008 and 2020. In total, over 50,000 soil samples were collected across more than 15 countries.</p></description></item><item><title>Open access soil data for Africa</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/open-soil-data/</link><pubDate>Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/open-soil-data/</guid><description><p>As part of our commitment to open access data, we are maintaining a soil analysis dataset for Africa. Our intention is to bring together as much soil data as possible in an analysis-ready format. We use this dataset to train the models that create the <a href="https://isda-africa.com/isdasoil">iSDAsoil</a> maps. We plan to regularly update this resource with additional soil data.</p>
<h2 id="contributing-data">Contributing data</h2>
<p>We are maintaining a GitHub repository at <a href="https://github.com/iSDA-Africa/open-soil-data">https://github.com/iSDA-Africa/open-soil-data</a>. We welcome any pull requests contributing additional data. Alternatively you can <a href="mailto:[email protected]">get in touch via email</a>.</p></description></item><item><title>Launch of Global Crop Nutrient Databases</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2022-09-05-global-crop-nutrient-databases-launched/</link><pubDate>Sun, 04 Sep 2022 12:17:27 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2022-09-05-global-crop-nutrient-databases-launched/</guid><description><p>On 6th September 2022 a landmark new <a href="https://cropnutrientdata.net">open data crop nutrition platform</a> will launch. A partnership of the <a href="https://www.precisioncropnutrition.net">Consortium for Precision Crop Nutrition</a>, global research institutes and agtech companies like iSDA, the first outputs will be two databases focused on crop nutrition.</p>
<p>The databases will serve as a valuable open resource for agriculturual researchers and those in industry conducting field trials on soil fertility and crop nutrition. Users can both contribute to and benefit from the shared datasets, allowing critical data to be shared amongst researchers and commercial companies. The databases have already produced rapid results, including a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2022.108578">published paper</a> that estimates nutrient use and storage in maize.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDA exhibiting at AGRF Summit, Kigali</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2022-09-04-isda-at-agrf-2022/</link><pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2022 08:46:11 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2022-09-04-isda-at-agrf-2022/</guid><description><h2 id="grow-nourish-reward---bold-actions-for-resilient-food-systems">Grow. Nourish. Reward - Bold Actions for Resilient Food Systems</h2>
<p><a href="https://agrf.org/AGRFSummit/">AGRF</a>, Africa’s premier forum for driving the food and agriculture agenda in the continent, will host its 12th annual summit under the theme Grow. Nourish. Reward – Bold Actions for Resilient Food Systems from September 5-9, 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda.</p>
<p>
<img
src="https://www.isda-africa.com/img/post/agrf-partners_hu16232441485075464858.png"
srcset="https://www.isda-africa.com/img/post/agrf-partners_hu16683027965965773915.png 2x, https://www.isda-africa.com/img/post/agrf-partners_hu16232441485075464858.png 1x"
class="img-fluid">
</p>
<p>We&rsquo;ll be attending and exhibiting our products:</p>
<h3 id="virtual-agronomist">Virtual Agronomist</h3>
<p>Directly supporting the aims of the summit is <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist">Virtual Agronomist</a>, our system for expert advisory for farmers at scale, which supports resilient food systems by improving smallholder farmer yields and incomes, and by reducing waste through individualised fertiliser plans.</p></description></item><item><title>World Congress of Soil Science 2022</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2022-08-19-world-congress-of-soil-science/</link><pubDate>Fri, 19 Aug 2022 12:26:27 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2022-08-19-world-congress-of-soil-science/</guid><description><p>Keith Shepherd (iSDA Chief Science Officer) presented a paper at the World Congress of Soil Science on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006222000284">A Global Soil Spectral Calibration &amp; Estimation Service</a> in Glasgow in August 2022.</p>
<p>The paper described ia freely available service that will allow users anywhere in the world to upload soil infrared spectra measurements and obtain estimates of multiple soil properties.</p>
<p>The presentation can be viewed <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/hNgZ3n0lLAB-7gZ_5wRlQi0hYW73Ff3UZBklwp_1xR7rrwE_POx6evcdxcv8vi_s.KRw6Npwz43zN9aqR">here</a>.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDAsoil Terms of Use</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/terms/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/terms/</guid><description><h2 id="1-who-we-are-and-how-to-contact-us">1. Who we are and how to contact us</h2>
<p>The soil maps and data presented within iSDAsoil (together “iSDAsoil”) are made available by Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture (“Us”). We are registered in England and Wales under company number 11429051 and have our registered office at Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ. We are a social enterprise.</p>
<h2 id="2-by-accessing-and-using-isdasoil-you-accept-these-terms">2. By accessing and using iSDAsoil you accept these terms</h2>
<p>By accessing and using iSDAsoil, you confirm that you accept and agree to comply with: these terms, the general <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/terms-of-use/">Terms of Use</a> governing our website and our <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/privacy-policy/">Privacy and Cookie Policy</a>.</p></description></item><item><title>Privacy & Cookie Policy</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/privacy-policy/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/privacy-policy/</guid><description><p>Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture (iSDA) (we, us, our) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.</p>
<p>This privacy policy aims to give you information on how iSDA processes your personal data when we collect personal data from you or that you provide to us through your use of the iSDA website, in particular how we go about keeping it secure at all times.</p>
<p>Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.</p></description></item><item><title>Terms and Conditions for Using Virtual Agronomist Co-Pilot</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/copilot-terms/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/copilot-terms/</guid><description><h2 id="1-acceptance-of-terms">1. Acceptance of Terms</h2>
<p>By using the Virtual Agronomist Co-pilot, you agree to these terms and conditions. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.</p>
<h2 id="2-service-description">2. Service Description</h2>
<p>Using the iSDAsoil map, the Virtual Agronomist Co-pilot delivers precise agricultural advice to optimize farming decisions.</p>
<h2 id="3-charges-and-payments">3. Charges and Payments</h2>
<p>There may be a charge for using the Virtual Agronomist Co-pilot. Charges will be disclosed at the time of service initiation. All payments are due upon receipt and are non-refundable.</p></description></item><item><title>Terms of Use</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/terms-of-use/</link><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/terms-of-use/</guid><description><p>Your use of our website is subject to the following terms and, by using our website, you agree to be legally bound by them. Please read these terms carefully before using our website. We may revise these terms from time to time.</p>
<h2 id="1-terms-and-conditions-for-the-use-of-this-website">1. Terms and Conditions for the use of this website</h2>
<p>This ‘Terms of Use’ policy sets out the terms between you and us under which you may access the iSDA websites. For the purposes of this terms of use policy “we”, “us”, “our” and “iSDA” means:</p></description></item><item><title>About</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/about/</link><pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/about/</guid><description/></item><item><title>Contact Us</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/contact-us/</link><pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/contact-us/</guid><description/></item><item><title>Team</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/team/</link><pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:50:33 +0100</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/team/</guid><description/></item><item><title>iSDA introduces the Virtual Agronomist App to the International Fertilizer Association</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-03-26-isda-introduces-virtual-agronomist-app-to-ifa/</link><pubDate>Fri, 26 Mar 2021 12:36:19 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-03-26-isda-introduces-virtual-agronomist-app-to-ifa/</guid><description><p>On 26<sup>th</sup> February 2021 the iSDA team demonstrated the <strong>prototype app “Virtual Agronomist”</strong> to the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8GyxpSyeWs">The recorded webinar is available to view on YouTube.</a></p>
<p>Presenting and answering the many user questions were members of the iSDA team: Jonathan Crouch, CEO; Jamie Collinson, CTO; Monica Cross, Head of Operations; Matt Miller, Lead Data Scientist; and Keith Shepherd, Head of Diagnostics and Decision Science. The webinar was chaired by Achim Dobermann, Chief Scientist at IFA.</p></description></item><item><title>AfCPA Conference</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-03-26-afcpa-conference/</link><pubDate>Fri, 26 Mar 2021 12:24:35 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-03-26-afcpa-conference/</guid><description><h2 id="notes-from-the-first-african-conference-on-precision-agriculture-8supthsup-to-10supthsup-december-2020">Notes from the first African Conference on Precision Agriculture, 8<sup>th</sup> to 10<sup>th</sup> December 2020.</h2>
<p>The session was hosted by Jonathan Crouch (CEO, iSDA) with contributions from Matt Miller (Lead Data Scientist, iSDA), Jamie Collinson (CTO, iSDA), and Keith Shepherd (Head of Diagnostics and Decision Science, iSDA). The Panel comprised Praveen Singh (Agronomist, Indorama), Pieter Pypers (Senior Agronomist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture), and Rik van den Bosch (Director, International Soil Reference and Information Centre).</p></description></item><item><title>University of Aberdeen’s research project to tackle land loss in Ethiopia, utilises iSDAsoil</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-03-22-university-of-aberdeen-research-ethiopia-utilises-isdasoil/</link><pubDate>Mon, 22 Mar 2021 11:26:30 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-03-22-university-of-aberdeen-research-ethiopia-utilises-isdasoil/</guid><description><p>David McBey and Michael Martin from the University of Aberdeen speak to iSDA about how they are using the iSDAsoil resource to underpin the tools developed for their project.</p>
<p>The project – <a href="https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/14502/"><em>Reducing land degradation and carbon loss from Ethiopia’s soils to strengthen livelihoods and resilience</em></a> – is funded through a £1,000,000 grant from the <a href="https://www.ukri.org/our-work/collaborating-internationally/global-challenges-research-fund/">UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF)</a>.</p>
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<h2 id="david-mcbey-describes-the-project-aims-and-background">David McBey describes the project aims and background</h2>
<p>My background is that I’m a social scientist. I’m employed on this project as an environmental modeller. We’re most interested in Ethiopia, because there’s a lot of degraded land there. I think it is about a quarter of the land, which impacts about a third of the population.</p></description></item><item><title>ASA Conference</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-02-18-asa-conference-10-11-november-2020/</link><pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2021 10:16:30 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-02-18-asa-conference-10-11-november-2020/</guid><description><p>Notes from the Special symposium on Translating Visionary Science for Excellence in African Agronomy at The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) International Annual Meeting. 10th to 11th November 2020.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil-asa-cssa-sssa-virtual-conference-recording/">View the recorded videos from the conference.</a></p>
<h2 id="african-soils-at-30-m-resolution-a-breakthrough-for-low-cost-agronomic-advisory">African soils at 30-m resolution. A breakthrough for low-cost agronomic advisory.</h2>
<p>Presented by <strong>Achim Dobermann</strong>. Chief Scientist, International Fertiliser Association.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDAsoil Launch</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-02-16-isdasoil-launch/</link><pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2021 09:21:44 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-02-16-isdasoil-launch/</guid><description><hr>
<p><a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil">iSDAsoil</a> previously launched on 23<sup>rd</sup> October 2020 and is an open access soil property map with 30m resolution for Africa. iSDA has collaborated with <a href="https://www.worldagroforestry.org/">ICRAF</a>, <a href="https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/">Rothamsted Research</a>, <a href="https://envirometrix.nl/">Envirometrix</a>, <a href="https://gilab.rs/">GiLab</a>, and <a href="https://multione.hr/home.html">MultiOne</a> to gather the immense dataset which underpins this work.</p>
<p>Using on-site soil samples and computer modelling, a detailed and interactive image is produced displaying multiple properties of the soil throughout Africa. The high resolution of the data (24 billion data points) means that a single farm can identify the soil type accurate to a particular field. iSDAsoil also takes into account the depth of soil and the type of underlying bedrock to predict the full picture of soil status across the country. Where there are data gaps, iSDAsoil will be improved upon with further data received from dedicated soil agronomists.</p></description></item><item><title>International Fertilizer Association Webinar 26 February 2021</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-02-16-international-fertilizer-association-webinar-26-february-2021/</link><pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2021 09:14:53 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-02-16-international-fertilizer-association-webinar-26-february-2021/</guid><description><h2 id="an-information-revolution-in-africa-introducing-isdasoil">An information revolution in Africa? Introducing iSDAsoil</h2>
<h3 id="26-february-2021-3pm-to-4pm-cet">26 February 2021, 3pm to 4pm CET</h3>
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<p>IFA, the International Fertilizer Association is holding a <strong><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UwuVtU-VTziZIJ1MTUtQlg">free webinar</a></strong> focusing on <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/">iSDAsoil</a>. IFA’s Members include fertilizer producers, traders and distributors, as well as their associations, service providers to the industry, research organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).</p>
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<p>Join us for a live demonstration of iSDAsoil with the team, and a discussion with <strong>IFA Chief Scientist Achim Dobermann</strong> on what this mapping can mean for the future of farming in Africa.</p></description></item><item><title>iSDAsoil at the AfCPA Virtual Conference</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-01-11-isdasoil-at-the-afcpa-virtual-conference/</link><pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2021 17:54:31 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2021-01-11-isdasoil-at-the-afcpa-virtual-conference/</guid><description><p>To celebrate the launch of <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/">iSDAsoil</a>, the iSDA team made two presentations at The 1st African Conference on Precision Agriculture (AfCPA) in December 2020.</p>
<h2 id="an-introduction-to-isdasoil">An introduction to iSDAsoil</h2>
<p>Jonathan Crouch, CEO of iSDA presented an overview of iSDAsoil. He outlined the history of digital soil mapping in Africa, the improvements made in iSDAsoil, and some applications of the resource:</p>
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<h2 id="the-isdasoil-interactive-workshop">The iSDAsoil interactive workshop</h2>
<p>The iSDA team then held an in-depth interactive session on iSDAsoil. This consisted of a live demo of iSDAsoil’s functionality, an expert panel discussion, and Q&amp;A. The panel discussion members were:</p></description></item><item><title>iSDAsoil at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA Virtual Conference</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2020-12-03-isdasoil-asa-cssa-sssa-virtual-conference-recording/</link><pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2020 09:07:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/posts/2020-12-03-isdasoil-asa-cssa-sssa-virtual-conference-recording/</guid><description><p>To celebrate the launch of <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/">iSDAsoil</a>, the iSDA team made two presentations at The American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America (ASA-CSSA-SSSA) Conference. This international virtual conference ran from the 9-13 November 2020.</p>
<p>Achim Dobermann of the iSDA Board presented an overview of iSDAsoil. He outlined the problem space, importance of the breakthrough, and its potential applications:</p>
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<em>Achim Dobermann presents iSDAsoil</em></p></description></item><item><title>Customer Stories</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/solutions/customer-stories/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/solutions/customer-stories/</guid><description><p>TODO</p></description></item><item><title>Decision Science</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/decision-science/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/decision-science/</guid><description><p>Our approach is heavily rooted in decision science, with the aim of improving the quality of decision making by farmers and support services.</p>
<p>Farming anywhere is typified by high investment risks, due to uncertainties in weather, pests and diseases, labour availability, responses to inputs, market prices, and climate change, to name a few. Risks are particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa smallholder systems due to large spatial and temporal variability in all these factors, coupled with large impacts due to low incomes, vulnerable households, and the high price of inputs. High decision risk also stifles adoption of improved practices. The scarcity of reliable data further impairs delivering sound agronomic advisory to reduce decision risk. And yet current agronomic advice fails to communicate risk to farmers, or to help them learn how to reduce risks or promote opportunities.</p></description></item><item><title>Diagnostics</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/diagnostics/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/diagnostics/</guid><description><p>iSDA is committed to diagnosing yield and profit limiting constraints. We do this at an individual field level to help farmers prioritise their investments, and at a project level to help aggregators target support services to farmers. Our applications help field officers quantitatively assess a wide range of yield constraints, ranging from plant nutrient deficiencies to soil structural constraints, and offer solutions for overcoming them. The constraints are diagnosed through observable indicators, in some cases with follow-up laboratory analyses. iSDA’s Bayesian approach provides for updating of our models over time based on observed cases and outcomes.</p></description></item><item><title>Scientific publications</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/publications/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/publications/</guid><description><p>Shepherd KD and Walsh MG. (2002) Development of reflectance spectral libraries for characterization of soil properties. <em>Soil Science Society of America Journal</em> 66:988-998. <a href="https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/sssaj/abstracts/66/3/988">doi:10.2136/sssaj2002.9880</a></p>
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<p>Shepherd KD, Palm CA, Gachengo CN and Vanlauwe B (2003) Rapid characterization of organic resource quality for soil and livestock management in tropical agroecosystems using near infrared spectroscopy. <em>Agronomy Journal</em> 95:1314-1322. <a href="https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/aj/abstracts/95/5/1314">doi:10.2134/agronj2003.1314</a></p>
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<p>Cohen MJ, Shepherd KD, and Walsh MG (2004). Improved application of the Universal Soil Loss Equation in tropical watersheds. <em>Geoderma</em> 124:235-252. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001670610400117X">doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2004.05.003</a></p></description></item><item><title>Soil-plant spectral diagnostics</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/spectral-diagnostics/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/spectral-diagnostics/</guid><description><p>iSDA has considerable experience with use of sensors for rapid assessment of soil and plant health, as part of our wider work on <a href="https://www.isda-africa.com/science/diagnostics">diagnostics</a>.</p>
<p>iSDA&rsquo;s Chief Scientist, Keith Shepherd, pioneered the use of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for soil and plant analysis in Africa from the early 2000&rsquo;s and has developed several global soil spectral libraries (see references below). He has helped establish soil spectroscopy in over 20 African laboratories, as well as in India, UK and USA.He has led the development of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soisec.2022.100061">Global Soil Spectral Library and Estimation Service</a>, which aims to provide a free resource for estimating soil properties from anywhere in the world.</p></description></item><item><title>Spatial Agronomy</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/spatial-agronomy/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/science/spatial-agronomy/</guid><description><p>Open access geospatial datasets are what underpin iSDA&rsquo;s approach to Spatial Agronomy. Satellites are constantly monitoring the Earth&rsquo;s surface, allowing us to understand what is currently happening in any field. Many satellite missions have been orbiting the Earth for a long time - since the 1970&rsquo;s, in the case of the Landsat missions. This means we can see how a field has been managed in the past few decades. We are also able to peer into the future using weather forecasts. Bringing all of this information together can help agronomists monitor their fields.</p></description></item><item><title>Virtual Agronomist Privacy Policy</title><link>https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist-privacy-policy/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.isda-africa.com/virtual-agronomist-privacy-policy/</guid><description><p><strong>Privacy Policy</strong></p>
<p>iSDA built the Virtual Agronomist app as a Commercial app. This SERVICE is provided by iSDA and is intended for use as is.</p>
<p>This page is used to inform visitors regarding our policies with the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information if anyone decided to use our Service.</p>
<p>If you choose to use our Service, then you agree to the collection and use of information in relation to this policy. The Personal Information that we collect is used for providing and improving the Service. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.</p></description></item></channel></rss>