This ITPS soil letter emphasizes the urgent need for a comprehensive global soil monitoring system to address the challenges of increasing food demand due to population growth and soil degradation. With more than 800 million people suffering from malnutrition in 2021, and food production needing to increase significantly by 2050, robust soil monitoring is essential to optimize agricultural productivity and maintain ecosystem services. Soil monitoring involves systematic measurement of soil properties over time and space to gather data crucial for managing food production, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting water and biodiversity. The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soil (ITPS) are key to establishing harmonized methods and securing long-term funding for sustained soil monitoring programs.