In subsistence agriculture the wealth of people on low fertility sandy soils is much lower than those living on rich volcanic soils. An important step in addressing the low productivity of these inherently infertile degraded soils is to address the fundamental problem of diminished nutrient holding capacity associated with a decline in soil organic matter. Turning sandy soils productive needs building resilience through application of soil improvement technologies. Over 15 years, we focused our research on improving the productivity of sandy soils using different inputs ranging from wastes to the injection of clays. Our promising results indicated significant increases in biomass, improved soil quality indices and higher nutrient and water use efficiencies. Ending marginal living in marginal sandy soils is greatly possible through appropriate and affordable management.