ABSTRACT Low and declining soil fertility has been recognized for a long time as a major impediment to intensifying agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Consequently, from the inception of international agricultural research, centres operating in SSA have had a research programme focusing on soil and soil fertility management, including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The scope, content, and approaches of soil and soil fertility management research have changed over the past decades in response to lessons learnt and internal and external drivers and this paper uses IITA as a case study to document and analyse the consequences of strategic decisions taken on technology development, validation, and ultimately uptake by smallholder farmers in SSA. After an initial section describing the external environment within which soil and soil fertility management research is operating, various dimensions of this research area are covered: (i) ‘strategic research’, ‘Research for Development’, partnerships, and balancing acts, (ii) changing role of characterization due to the expansion in geographical scope and shift from soils to farms and livelihoods, (iii) technology development: changes in vision, content, and scale of intervention, (iv) technology validation and delivery to farming communities, and (v) impact and feedback to the technology development and validation process. Each of the above sections follows a chronological approach, covering the last five decades (from the late 1960s till today). The paper ends with a number of lessons learnt which could be considered for future initiatives aiming at developing and delivering improved soil and soil fertility management practices to smallholder farming communities in SSA.

中文翻译：

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回顾与展望：撒哈拉以南非洲土壤和土壤肥力管理研究 50 年

摘要长期以来，人们一直认为土壤肥力低下和不断下降是撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 集约化农业的主要障碍。因此，从国际农业研究开始，在 SSA 运营的中心就有一个专注于土壤和土壤肥力管理的研究计划，其中包括国际热带农业研究所 (IITA)。土壤和土壤肥力管理研究的范围、内容和方法在过去的几十年里随着经验教训和内部和外部驱动因素发生了变化，本文使用 IITA 作为案例研究来记录和分析所采取的战略决策的后果技术开发、验证并最终被 SSA 中的小农采用。在描述土壤和土壤肥力管理研究的外部环境的初始部分之后，涵盖了该研究领域的各个方面：（i）“战略研究”、“发展研究”、伙伴关系和平衡行为，（ii） ) 由于地理范围的扩大和从土壤到农场和生计的转变，特征的作用发生变化，(iii) 技术发展：干预的愿景、内容和规模的变化，(iv) 技术验证和向农业社区的交付，以及(v) 对技术开发和验证过程的影响和反馈。上述每个部分都遵循时间顺序方法，涵盖过去五年（从 1960 年代后期到今天）。