Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Africa has a large degree of degraded soils, suboptimal land use, population growth and increasingly urban population. These factors are contributing to increased competition and pressures on land (less land per farmer, less quality land per farmer, climate change, biodiversity loss) resulting in unfavourable economics of farming and ecosystem management.
The IPBES report on land degradation and restoration highlights huge economic cost of land and soil degradation, including increasing cost of no action. Soil health is key to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Therefore, holistic systems approaches are needed for addressing multiple context specific soil health related challenges at country and regional level. In addition, evidence driven analytical framework is urgently needed for adequate soil health priority setting and planning at regional and national level, alignment of partners and investments.
Detailed Call Description
Proposed activities should:
- Develop a scalable Africa-wide soil health dashboard, building on the experience of the EUSO Soil health dashboard, leveraging existing data (e.g., Africa Soil Information System AfSIS) and other EU funded projects such as Soils 4 Africa.
- Strategic collection of new data to fill soil knowledge gaps (such as pollution, compaction, biodiversity, nutrient status, acidity/acidification, soil organic matter, soil erosion, soil water) and improve the accuracy and functionality of the dashboard through consultative engagement with national stakeholders.
- Identify critical local/regional thresholds for key soil health descriptors.
- Develop roadmaps to highlight trends in soil health responses to policy instruments.
- Support participating African countries in the development of national soil health strategies in at least 8 countries, to better manage soil resources for agriculture and the environment. In developing the strategies, projects should create use cases and provide training opportunities for the interpretation and use of data.
Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the Joint Research Centre’s EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) and SoilWISE and ensure interoperability between the dashboard and other databases (such as national soil information services or the Horizon 2020 project Soils4Africa ).
Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to build on the work of Soils4Africa and other projects on soil information that are being funded by other entities, including philanthropic organisations, particularly where there is geographical or thematic complementarity. The Consortium is invited to propose a long-term sustainability plan for the dashboard in Africa.
While having a focus on Africa, activities could tap into international expertise (particularly from Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) as deemed necessary.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
Expected EU contribution per project: €7.00 million
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Health
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- International Organisations
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Eligibility For Participation Notes
Due to the scope of this topic, international organisations with headquarters in Africa are exceptionally eligible for funding.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
Address: 29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia, P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Person to Contact:
Myrto Anastasiadou
Scientific Officer
Email: manastassiadou@research.org.cy