This dataset contains the biophysical measurements (mineral nitrogen, percent carbon, percent nitrogen, percent soil moisture, particle size analysis and aggregate stability) from soil collected from farmers' fields in the Halaba district, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region in Ethiopia, after the drought of 2015-2016. Eighteen farms from four kebeles (Asore, Lay Arisho, Konicha and 1st Choroko) were sampled. Soil cores were taken from fields classed as "home", "near" and "far" from the homestead and were taken from two depths (0-20cm and 20-50cm). Soil cores were taken after the El Niño event of 2015/16, so reflect the resilience of different areas of the farm to drought. This dataset was collected as part of the NERC-funded project Building Resilience in Ethiopia's Awassa region to Drought (BREAD). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/024c5a61-5114-41a6-93b8-e3fb4d24622b