Africa’s most populous country is launching a long-overdue national program for its millions of small-scale family farmers: a soil test kit linked to the digital cloud. The program by the government of Nigeria follows decades of declining soil health and mounting malnutrition.
Known as “Soil Doctor”, the test will enable farmers to quickly analyze the nutrient content of their soil. This information, in turn, will allow them to determine which fertilizers to use and in what amounts. The goal: to improve food production by getting the most out of the soil.