A GLOBAL COALITION TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH

The Landscape Alliance’s Soil and Land Health Theme organized a teambuilding retreat on 30 July 2026 at Ridge Cabin Resort, in Limuru, Kenya, bringing together 31 staff members, including internship students, under the theme "Strengthening Team Cohesion, Efficiency, and Purpose." Facilitated by Outburst Ltd., the retreat was designed to strengthen collaboration, improve communication, enhance problem-solving, and remind everyone that our greatest strength lies not in individual brilliance, but in collective effort.

By Dickens Ateku Alubaka, Senior Manager, Soil and Land Health Laboratories Research Services, Landscape Alliance (ICRAF)

Those of us who spend our lives in rangelands rarely think simply in terms of soil. We think in terms of soils.

Every soil type reflects an ancient geological history. The soils beneath my feet were formed over thousands, sometimes millions, of years from volcanic ash, ancient basement gneisses, river deposits and the black cotton clays that characterise parts of northern Kenya. They are the inheritance of geology. Each possesses its own physical and chemical characteristics, its own capacity to hold water, cycle nutrients, and support life. Every soil has its own potential, and every soil interacts with particular plant communities. Healthy rangelands are therefore built not on one soil, but on the remarkable diversity of soils and the equally remarkable diversity of plants they support.

On the 19th of June 2026, Daniela Solis addressed the 14th Global Soil Partnership (GSP) General Assembly on behalf of the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) and the Landscape Alliance, delivering a clear message: the future of food systems, climate resilience, and ecosystem restoration depends on translating soil evidence into policy and investment decisions.

The presentation highlighted both the urgency of the challenge and the growing momentum behind global soil action.

Welcome to the Kingdom in the Sky: Lesotho, a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. Every part of the country lies above 1,000 metres above sea level, with vast areas rising between 2,000 and 3,400 metres. Towering mountains, deep valleys, high-altitude grasslands, and wetlands define a landscape of striking beauty and ecological importance.

What happens when a school follows the children instead of expecting children to leave their way of life behind?

In the rugged landscapes of northern Kenya, The Sarara Foundation (TSF) is helping answer that question through its innovative Nomadic Education Program. Designed around the realities of Samburu pastoralist life, the initiative is demonstrating that education and traditional livelihoods do not have to exist in conflict. In fact, they can strengthen one another.