Soil health is the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, and its impact extends far beyond the confines of the farm. As we enter the festive season, it's a fitting time to reflect on the invaluable gifts of soil health. These include policies, advocates, media influence, scientific expertise, and farmer dedication—all crucial in driving progress toward a healthier, more resilient agricultural ecosystem. Let’s celebrate these contributions and recognize their role in safeguarding our future.

Having acquired some basic understanding of soil health in Part 1 of the series, the Stars in Our Soil: Understanding Soil, Sussana Phiri spends this installment delving into the science behind soil testing, with examples and resources for those looking to start troubleshooting own farms.

The IFRC Limitless Innovation Challenge is a chance for youth around the World to showcase their innovations for climate and the environment. Daniel Chavo Kisekka of the #Youth4Soil Initiative has submitted his climate solution Nurtavest to support smallholder farmers in Uganda, and the World over.

We are calling on the CA4SH network to help support him by engaging with his pitch video, which could place him in the top 100 innovations!

Lankala Visweshwara Rao manages his 4-acre arabica coffee farm in Alluri Sitaramaraju district in Andhra Pradesh state in India. He has faced numerous challenges, including the dreaded white stem borer disease, a significant threat in the country’s coffee-growing regions, including Rao’s coffee farm.

Since 2023, Rao has used PxD’s Coffee Krishi Taranga service, a voice-based digital agricultural advisory service, which has provided him with insights and proactive measures to remove and dispose of infected plants in a way that will prevent the spread of larvae. Learn about the other features of the project!

CA4SH’s Webinar Series was held over three sessions in the lead-up to the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit to address key challenges currently constraining farmers to implement healthy soil practices. The first two sessions were held under the topics of bringing soil health into policy and financing healthy soil practices. This third session focused on the science and knowledge needed to generate actionable data for soil health monitoring and scaling up, informing and tracking soil health practices on the ground whilst addressing key barriers.

Biome Makers, a global agtech company, announces the release of its 2023 Impact Report, which details the company's significant contributions to regenerative agriculture and soil health over the past year. The report highlights Biome Makers’ commitment to sustainability and the innovative use of its BeCrop technology.

• Agreena registers two million hectares of European farmland on its pioneering soil carbon platform - an area the size of Slovenia

• More than 1,000 farmers across 17 countries have now joined AgreenaCarbon - transitioning from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture

• Agreena’s ability to scale soil carbon removals has been supported through the use of cutting-edge remote sensing technology coupled with machine learning

Bringing together stakeholders representing the private sector, NGOs, academia, governments and more, CA4SH contributed to three events at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AGRF) between 4th and 5th September to discuss what scaling soil health looks like, and the vision for Africa’s soils we are working steadily towards.

“Women play a critical role in the agricultural sector, comprising 43% of the agricultural labor force globally and making significant contributions to household and national food security. Despite their essential role, they face several challenges that limit their ability to adopt sustainable agricultural practices and adapt to climate change, including access to information and finance.”

Watch the video from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Science and Innovation Forum 2022 - Interview with Scientists: Rattan Lal.