Governance for sustainable soil management and digitalisation in Africa: time for a Pan-African approach? - Fellows' seminar by Harald Ginzky & Oliver Ruppel

Fertile, healthy soils and their sustainable management are essential for life, hope, and Africa's future. Healthy soils must be recognised as a foundation for eradicating poverty and hunger, mitigating and adapting to climate change, and preserving biodiversity. Yet, the current state of Africa’s soils is deeply concerning. The way soils are managed is a clear indicator of whether a nation is on the path towards sustainable development. The Pan African Parliament (PAP), the legislative body of the African Union (AU has decided in 2023 that a model law on sustainable soil management shall be developed ). The work has had the support of organisations such as the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, the African Soil Partnership, the UN Environmental Programme and the UN Convention on Desertification.

The PAP has welcome the support provided by the German Environment Agency (Dr Harald Ginzky) and the Development an Rule of Law Programme (DROP) at Stellenbosch University (Prof Oliver C. Ruppel).

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Ruppel and Ginzky have been working together for about ten years and in that time have created a large, multidisciplinary network of soil experts around the world. This year will see the presentation of their model to the PAP as well as the launch of their latest book at STIAS.

The process has involved examining existing legislation in eleven African states, representing all five African regions, with all four official languages Arabic, English, French and Portuguese, very different drivers of soil degradation and of status of development. Wide ide consultation including with non-governmental organisations, traditional leaders and religious communities have informed the development of the model law as well – “this is very important both for accurate information and buy in,” said Ruppel. “It’s about people-to-people knowledge to stimulate development and African-wide cooperation. This is a joint interest beyond territorial interests.” Ruppel explained that healthy soils are needed for food security and poverty eradication. But the challenges include climate adaptation, biodiversity, groundwater protection, as well as social and ecological services. “Soil is the second-largest carbon sink after the oceans,” he said. “It has global dimensions. It’s where we come from and where we end. It has sociological meaning. We are investigating legal avenues to better protect soil across different sectors – including agriculture, mining and transport. But our perspective is from the Global South where there are the added challenges of poverty and hunger, insecurity, and land-tenue issues.” Soil has been over-utilised especially in Africa – and many drivers have led to the decline. Ruppel explained that land and soil degradation has affected 65% of arable lands, 30% of grazing lands and 20% of forests. Agriculture accounts for 30% of GDP but involves 60% of the workforce in Africa. There is a need to increase productivity by 70% by 2025 which means an urgent need for organic fertilisers, appropriate pesticides and seed independence. “We want to find ways to protect soil by legal mechanisms,” said Ruppel. “Soil governance refers to how countries—through their political representatives, institutions, and administrations—can initiate, uphold, and advance the sustainable management of soil resources,” he said. “New digital tools, including artificial intelligence, offer promising support for strengthening governance mechanisms and making them more effective.” “Africa is, of course, not only a fascinating continent but also with many colonial legacies that unfold until today,” he added. “Different legal regimes coexist even within one country. Making it difficult to investigate which legal opportunities can best protect soil.” “In many African countries there are good laws in place but weak implementation systems and enforcement often due to lack of finance and capacity,” he said. “We want to inform policy makers on how improvements can be made, implemented, enforced, monitored and financed.” The Pan African Parliament does not have the mandate to legislate in the strict sense. It does, however, have a mandate to develop so-called model laws, which it can recommend to the African Union Assembly for endorsement. Once endorsed by the AU Assembly a model law can be used by the domestic parliaments of the AU members as a legislative guidance in the domestication process. “Obviously Africa is a very diverse continent – and one piece of legislation cannot apply to all,” said Ginzky, “but a framework with a legal toolbox means countries can select what is relevant in their context. We don’t want legislation that collects dust but something that is implemented, monitored, policed and enforced.” “We had the challenge of coming up with recommendations that were sufficiently flexible to be considered and not over prescriptive,” he added. The model law deal with the overarching provisions including the core legal instruments/mechanisms of the model law; highlighting that soils are natural resources which provide essential social and ecological services; addressing all forms of soil degradation – compaction, erosion and permission procedures for potentially detrimental activities; mechanisms to rehabilitate soil qualities; traditional leaders and responsible implementers; climate mitigation and adaptation; spatial mechanisms – protection of valuable soils; implementation and organisational aspects; data gathering and dissemination; interministerial cooperation at central level; local administration; as well as digitalisation, gender, dispute settlements and the role of the courts.  The model law will be accompanied by commentaries on several sectoral governance which should facilitate the transposition of the model law into national legislation. “You cannot develop a “one size-fits-all-law” said Ginzky. “In order to be successful, national ownership is key and developing national legislation.”

Digitalisation, AI and sustainable soil management

The team is also looking at the complex world of digitalisation, AI and sustainable soil management. “This means identifying potential areas for application and use, the challenges and risks, and understanding how complex the topic is from a legal perspective,” said Ginzky. “Digitalisation and AI can be used for data management – analysis and dissemination; real-time M&E; remote sensing; weather forecasts; addressing the challenges of multi languages; planning instruments; environmental standards and awareness raising,” he explained. “But it all depends on the available field data.” The challenges include the energy demands and waste which may lead to a negative climate-change balance; misuse of data, insufficient disclosure and transparency; the digital and social divide – which needs capacity building; and, the economic dimensions including market-power concentration. “The benefits must be in the interests of all,” said Ginzky. “From a legal point of view – AI encompasses many different categories of law.” “Obviously there is ongoing debate generally on governance concerning AI,” he continued. “At international level there is some consensus on principles but it’s only principles not real governance.” “Our framework includes a section on digitalisation – which outlines the need for policy to be established that national authorities responsible for soil management should develop and implement.” “An inclusive approach is needed and gathering of data on the ground is essential,” he continued. “Digital sovereignty remains a long-term perspective. AI and digitalisation are still in their infancy but may be supportive for soil-management initiatives. But there is a need to balance benefits and environmental costs and the need for data.” Ginzky and Ruppel concluded by outlining some of the elements in the project’s success – including the long-term preparation; a combined bottom-up and top-down approach; an inter- and transdisciplinary approach, continuous scientific outreach; the involvement of African experts and their ownership of the work; and, ongoing consultation with politicians and local society. “Soil is important for sustainable development in Africa,” said Ginzky,” but there are different priorities compared to Europe, the focus is on hunger, poverty and the future of the youth.” “It’s not sufficient to just outline objectives, there is a need to focus on implementation. And in Africa an interplay between traditional and modern governance is needed.” In a very wide-ranging discussion, they responded to a question on land redistribution. “This is obviously a hot spot of the project,” said Ruppel. “Colonial legacies and land possession have gained momentum in many African countries. It’s a very controversial issue. We cannot undo long-standing colonial injustices in this one project, but we can illuminate these and propose solutions where possible.” And on whether the Pan African Parliament and African Union will have the capacity to implement this work, he said: “The PAP is constrained but is one of most important institutions of the AU. The African Union  is still young – its development is therefore predicted into the future in its Vision 2063. The European Parliament originally also had limited power so the PAP can with time and the political will also generate and develop more competencies and further capacity. “I would not underestimate parliamentarians at the PAP. It has a lot of clout for further development. There has been significant progress in the last ten years.” Ginzky added: “It would be major outcome if the PAP and ultimately the AU would adopt the model law.” Michelle Galloway: Part-time media officer at STIAS Photograph: SCPS Photography