In the urban gardens of Kisumu we interviewed female farmers to determine the sources and scope of their agricultural knowledge. We assessed the impact of the knowledge by comparing the influence of two types of management on soil nutrients. While one type of management was more effective in terms of preserving soil nutrients, the other management type had socioeconomic benefits. Both environmental and socioeconomic effects have to be considered in agricultural training to increase their impact.

In a world of increasing pressure on our environment, large-scale knowledge about our soil resources is in high demand. We show how five decades of collaboration between EU member states resulted in a full-coverage soil profile analytical database for Europe (SPADE), with soil data provided by soil experts from each country. We show how the dataset can be applied to estimate soil organic carbon in Europe and suggest further improvement to this critical support tool in continental-scale policies.

Vis–NIR spectrometry is often applied to capture soil organic carbon (SOC). This study addresses the impact of the involved data and modelling aspects on SOC precision with a focus on the propagation of input data uncertainties. It emphasizes the necessity of transparent documentation of the measurement protocol and the model building and validation procedure. Particularly, when Vis–NIR spectrometry is used for soil monitoring, the aspect of uncertainty propagation becomes essential.