Healthy soils must be at the root of our efforts towards sustainable food systems
15 December, New York – Adding momentum to the global World Soil Day celebrations, a hybrid commemoration at the United Nations in New York brought together voices from renowned soil researchers and scientists and from Member States and UN actors that converged on the urgency of working towards improved soil health for more sustainable agrifood systems and healthier diets for all.
In 2014, the UN General Assembly designated 5 December as World Soil Day, with this year’s global campaign "Soil: Where the food begins" aimed at raising awareness around the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing three key challenges: soil fertility, soil health, and nutrient imbalance.
The World Soil Day celebration, moderated by Yingqian (Lily) Chen, Senior On-Camera United Nations Correspondent and anchor at Phoenix Satellite Television, was co-organized by the Permanent Missions to the United Nations (UN) of the Kingdom of Thailand and Namibia, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The event heard from the 2022 Glinka World Soil Prize Laureate, Dr Ashok Kumar Patra and the 2022 King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award Laureate, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, represented by Professor Elizabeth Solleiro Rebolledo and Axel Cerón González, Vice-chairman of the International Union of Soil Sciences ’Young Scientists’ Working Group. Dr David Lindbo, Director of the Soil and Plant Science Division of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, also participated in the panel.
Offering welcoming remarks was Ambassador Suriya Chindawongse, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the UN, who framed the discussions under the urgency of treating sustainable soil management as “one of the main solutions to ensure sustainable and resilient food systems”. Echoing this was Ambassador Lachezara Stoeva, 77th President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the UN, who encouraged participants be especially aware of the linkage between healthy soils and SDG2 – Zero Hunger.
Also in attendance was Ms Helena Kuzee, Deputy Permanent Representative of Namibia to the UN, who underscored that, after oceans, soils are the second largest carbon sink, and therefore called for targeted policies and incentives to maintain this potential and to achieve FAO’s ‘Four Betters’. Ambassador Alicia Buenrostro, Deputy Permanent Representative from Mexico to the UN, added that food security, nutrition, food safety, healthy diets, and an overall sustainable food production all rely on this vital resource.
Sustainable, productive food systems cannot exist without healthy soils
Speaking from FAO was Lifeng Li, Director of the Land and Water Division, who connected virtually from Montreal during his participation at the 15th Session of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). He outlined how soils are home to over one-fourth of the planet’s biodiversity, all the more reason why FAO sees that “it is important to bring soil biodiversity into the COP15 and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework,” Li said.
He also cited the extraordinary capacity of soils to store, transform, and recycle nutrients that are needed to produce healthy crops, reminding those in attendance that with up to 95 percent of our food coming directly or indirectly from soils, the need to reverse current soil degradation and growing nutrient imbalance trends has never been more urgent.
Yet, with over one-third of soils worldwide degraded “due to impacts by unsustainable human activities, natural processes and climate change,” Li said, decreased soil fertility is having a direct impact on land productivity and food quality. Along these lines, he pointed to a latest FAO report on black soils, which are at greater risk than ever due to the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and land use change. Their inherent fertility makes them a food basket for many countries and are considered essential to the wider global food supply.
FAO, through the Global Soil Partnership, is firmly committed to continuing the promotion of sustainable soil management at all levels, from mobilizing partnership and resources to supporting Member States to implement sustainable soil management solutions that inextricably link the collective health and wellbeing of humanity and planet.
Melchiade Bukuru, Director of UNCCD Office in New York provided closing remarks, pointing to the potential of healthy soils as well as their fragility if not duly taken care of. “It can take up to 1000 years to produce just one inch of soil, but it takes only moments to destroy it,” he said.
Related links
- Did you miss the event? Watch the recording.
- Read more about World Soil Day 2022 here and here.
- Learn more about the work of the Global Soil Partnership housed at FAO.