Organizer
CA4SH
Location
About
Healthy soil is the very foundation of our food systems and provides several vital ecosystem services, from carbon sequestration to improving food and nutrition security. Efforts to combat desertification, to move from scarcity to prosperity, will need to consider how to scale soil health, globally. With over one third of the Earth’s surface degraded and over 3.2 billion people negatively affected by degradation, continuing business as usual is no longer an option. The urgent need to transform our food systems has never been more critical. Now is the time for multi-stakeholder action to build an enabling environment at multiple levels for supporting, financing, scaling and monitoring healthy soil ecosystems.
The session “Common Ground: Soil Health for Nature, People, and Climate” aims to spotlight the pivotal role of soil health in reshaping agricultural practices, ensuring food security, and combating climate change.
Objectives
The primary objective of this one-hour session is to delve into the fundamental importance of soil health as backbone for resilient food systems and climate action. The session aims to raise awareness and support for the central role of soil health in climate action and the transformation of food systems. It brings together diverse stakeholders from science, policy, development, conservation, and the private sector. It aims to inspire and mobilise participants to champion soil-centric approaches, policies, and collective action.
Key themes:
Understanding the Soil-Climate-Food Nexus:
Explore the intricate relationship between soil health, climate change, and food security.
Discuss how enhancing soil health can act as a powerful climate mitigation and adaptation strategy.
Highlight the multiple benefits of soil health: mitigate and adapt to climate change, restore biodiversity, improve water resilience, enhance food security, and protect natural and cultural heritage.
Agricultural Practices for Healthy Soils:
Showcase examples from soil health advocates.
Highlight stories for on-the-ground scaling of healthy soil practices.
Policy Implications and Advocacy:
Examine the role of policy frameworks and an enabling environment in promoting sustainable soil management and climate-resilient agriculture.
Discuss advocacy strategies to influence policymakers and promote soil-centric agricultural policies.
Demonstrate examples of National Policies for Soil Health.
Speakers
Moderated by:
Dr. Leigh Winowiecki, CIFOR-ICRAF, CA4SH
Panelists:
Eliane Ubalijoro, PhD, CEO, CIFOR-ICRAF
Andrea Meza Murillo, Executive Secretary, UNCCD
Elizabeth Nsimbanda, President, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF)
Roland van der Vorst, Head of Innovation Rabobank & CEO Rabo Carbon Bank
Genna Tesdall, Director, Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD)
Joao Campari, Global Leader, Food Practice, WWF
Claudia Schepp, Executive Secretariat, 4 per 1000
Dr. Leonardus Vergutz, Chief Innovation Officer, OCP
Erica Johnson, Sustainability Affairs Officer, Agreena
Nikita Eriksen-Hamel, Deputy Director, Agriculture and Food Systems, Global Affairs Canada
Manyewu Mutamba, Head of Agriculture, AUDA-NEPAD