Within the framework of the "Global Soil Partnership", FAO advocates for recognition of the importance of soils for achieving food security, as well as their pivotal role in providing a range of ecosystem services.

An ad-hoc meeting of the Asian Soil Partnership was organized in Tsukuba (Japan) at the margins of the MARCO Symposium (24-27 Sep 2012) by the National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES) to define a road map that was consolidated through the Tsukuba Statement.

The  Global Soil Partnership was officially endorsed by FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) at its 23rd session on 24 May 2012.

The GSP was discussed in depth and country members welcomed the preparatory work done by FAO. 

The preparatory process started with a request by COAG in 2010 for FAO to explore the establishment of the Global Soil Partnership.

The Global Soil Partnership is currently running an online survey in order to get the user’s needs and challenges of global/regional soil data and information.

On the occasion of the launch of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) at FAO on 7 September 2011, Assistant Director-General Alexander Müller signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Global Water Partnership Executive Secretary Ania Grobicki. The GSP will help to implement the provisions of the World Soil Charter, adopted in 1982, and to raise awareness and motivate action by decision-makers on the importance of soils for food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation. As such it will complement the work of the Global Water Partnership.