menu
Water, Land and Ecosystems

Keith Shepherd

Principal Soil Scientist, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

Former Co-leader of the Restoring Degraded Landscapes Research Theme, WLE

WLE Science Focal Point for ICRAF

k.shepherd (at) cgiar.org

Keith Shepherd is a principal soil scientist at ICRAF with over 30 years’ research experience in tropical land management. He leads ICRAF’s science domain on land health and the Centre’s Soil-Plant Spectral Diagnostics Laboratory. His research focuses on decision analytics and the development and application of land health surveillance and response – an evidence-based approach for monitoring and assessing land and soil health and targeting interventions for land improvement. He holds a PhD in agricultural botany from University of Reading, UK.

Content authored by Keith Shepherd

  • Blog Post
    soil
    Blog Post

    Investing in soil health key to closing the yield gaps

    Even without climate change, there is an enormous challenge to meet the growing demand for food with the current status of soil health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Closing this yield gap is possible - with the right technology and best practices - but represents a herculean task.  
    1 comment
  • Terrace system with seedling rice (lime green) and maize (darker green) above Khudi, Nepal.
    • Data based

    Catalogue of promising crop varieties of mountain agriculture

    SmallholdersProductivity
    This variety catalogue of notified varieties and promising landraces of eight crops important for the high mountain agricultural zones of  Nepal is an important tool for farmers and researchers concerned with agricultural production, food security and agrobiodiversity conservation. 
  • Predicted soil macro-nutrient concentrations (0–30 cm) for Sub-Saharan Africa. All values are expressed in ppm
    • Map

    Soil nutrient maps of Sub-Saharan Africa

    Soils
    Sub-Saharan Africa has more than 50 percent of the world’s potential for land cultivation. Yet, most of this land is in poor condition and unable to satisfy the needs of agricultural production.  The Africa Soil Information Services project helps meet these needs with a gridded Soil Information System of Africa and soil nutrient maps. 
  • Farmers group training on nursery management, South Sulawesi
    • Technology

    Soil-Plant Spectral Diagnostics Laboratory

    Soils
    Poor soil health is recognized as a major cause of decline in agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. This low cost soil and plant analysis technology works to improve management of natural resources through light photon based methods. 
  • Blog Post
    Blog Post

    The Soil Scientists’ Lament

    For over 40 years as an international soil scientist, I have been hearing more and more what I call “The Soil Scientists’ Lament” – the cry that “soils are neglected”, “soils are under-valued”, “inaction on soil degradation is costing hundreds of billions of dollars per year”, “but those who make public policy are not listening to us”. 
    1 comment
  • Blog Post
    Blog Post

    Do you trust your gut instinct?

    For big decisions, like buying a car, we may do a bit of research; but most of the time, we simply follow our gut feeling as a guide. But do we want those who make decisions on some of the biggest issues in development to also follow their gut instinct? Decision analysis tools can improve the decision making process.