Deborah Bossio

Soils Research Area Director, Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Co-leader of the Regenerating Degraded Agricultural Ecosystems Research Theme, WLE

Co-leader of the Ecosystems Services and Resilience Research Theme, WLE

d.bossio (at) cgiar.org

Deborah Bossio is the Director of Soil Research at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). She is a Soil Scientist with broad-based experience in soil fertility, sustainable agriculture, land degradation, soil ecology, carbon and water management. Currently based in Nairobi, Kenya, her interest in agricultural development and sustaining society’s ecological foundations has lead her to conduct research in the Americas, Asia and Africa over the last 20 years. Her team at CIAT takes a transdisciplinary approach towards restoring degraded lands, sustainable intensification of farming systems, and climate smart agriculture.

Content authored by Deborah Bossio

Big Question: Responses
July 02, 2015
Changing the hippy discourse
Instead of focusing on fertilizer only – whether mineral or organic – the debate should focus on supporting poor rural farmers with a range of options, knowledge, skills, and inputs to increase their yields today – and tomorrow.
- Deborah Bossio
Big Question
April 21, 2015
Can Africa afford to save its soils?
In celebration of the International Year of Soils, we asked a number of experts: Can poor farmers afford to invest in restoring degraded soils? Read their responses.
- Deborah Bossio
6 responses
Big Question: Responses
December 10, 2014
Building confidence in large-scale landscape restoration
How can we ensure that efforts to restore degraded lands deliver results that meet the expectations of committed governments and financial investors? Panelists debated at the Global Landscapes Forum last weekend.
- Deborah Bossio
Global Landscapes Forum 2014
1 comment
Blog Post
Blog Post
October 18, 2013
How do we ensure our landscapes support agriculture to increase wealth and equity in smallholder farming communities?
Land degradation is no longer a local problem. Increasing land scarcity means that smallholder farmers in Africa may find themselves competing for land in a global market that has seen an exponential rise in foreign investment in soil and water or ‘land grabbing’. Conversion of new lands contributes to climate change. What are we doing about it?
- Deborah Bossio
2 comments