CESRA will work in cooperation soil institutions, institutes, departments, universities, agencies, etc. which can either join CESRA spontaneously or be nominated by their national focal points to the GSP. Entities interested in joining CESRA should be (1) working on soil, (2) working on education, research and extension in soil management, and (3) be non- profit. Individuals cannot become CESRA’s members. Private sector entities are welcome to join CESRA as observers, with no involvement in decision-making roles.

In the framework of supporting CESRA, national focal points to the GSP should:

• Nominate institutions to join CESRA;
• Coordinate the communication between nominated institutions and spontaneous members at the national level;
• Coordinate the communication between national members of CESRA and CESRA’s Director General; and
• Provide feedback to CESRA on technical issues in his/her country. These can be used to revise CESRA’s activities/work plan.

The organigram of CESRA is reported in Figure 2. The terms of reference for the Steering Committee, the Director General, the Heads of the Department in CESRA and the external advisory board are reported in Annex 1. The recruitment, promotion, reassignment and termination of the contracts for any of the positions in CESRA, will be regulated by the CESRA’s Agreement of Employment and CESRA’s Rules and Regulations.

The activities carried out by CESRA will be in line with its mission and objectives. Activities will be implemented through the Department of Soil Information and Training (DSIT) and the Department of Soil Research and Development (DSRD). The Directors of these Departments will report to the Director General of CESRA, who will coordinate with CESRA’s members to execute activities at the national level. The Department of Administration and Collaboration (DAC) will assist in the process.

The work plan of CESRA will be regularly developed and reviewed considering each Department’s specific objectives:

Department of Soil Research and Development (DSRD):

• To promote advanced research on soil and the practice of SSM in the Asian region;
• To combine local research results and indigenous knowledge with international findings in the framework of developing and applying new technologies;
• To support the implementation of the Global Soil Doctors programme and other similar programmes on scaling up SSM practices (e.g. VGSSM);
• To promote and assist implementing SEALNET; and
• To advocate the endorsement of science driven policies on soil.

To meet its objectives, the DSRD will operate in coordination with national and international soil research institutions, soil science societies, local agencies and universities. Three to five year research plans will be developed.

Department of Soil Information and Training (DSIT)

• To establish the Asian Soil Information System (ASIS) which will take into consideration and address regional-specific issues, situations;
• To assist countries in data generation, sharing, retrieval and acquisition policy;
• To assist in developing and implementing guidelines for database harmonization; and
• To build countries’ capacities in developing their National Soil Information Systems (NSIS).