Building an impact pathway framework for a project through soil connectivity

Abstract

Soil connectivity envisages people's involvement in the protection and management of soil reflecting the view that improper soil management will result in soil degradation. Having realized the necessity of ensuring people's participation in managing soil degradation, in Papua New Guinea (PNG) soil use and management is of governmental interest. Soil degradation on cocoa orchards is exacerbated due to existing reliance on current soil condition. People must respond quickly, but very few soil best management practices are available. Additionally, it is speculated that inadequate soil training amongst the village extension workers (VEWs) is plummeting adoption rates. We develop a two-step impact pathway framework through soil connectivity. In the first step of this approach, a VEWs survey conducted as part of this study confirmed that their active participation in soil management remains minimal. This is a critical shortcoming in the cocoa block management. However, knowledge of soil possessed by respondents living in a location for a period is significantly developed and this connection with soil can be useful in sustainable soil use and management decisions. In the second step, a research project develops an impact pathway framework on how it sees itself planning, achieving and communicating impacts. We illustrate the development of a framework using example from a soil science project in PNG based on gaps found through the state-of-the-art knowledge. Through this exercise our aim is to highlight the links between the project communication and developmental impacts. We concluded that the framework developed is flexible to be applied across other food systems.