“This June, International Biochar Initiative (IBI) launched the inaugural Biochar Academy: an in-person and online learning project modeling a train-the-trainers education approach to develop a global biochar workforce.

The IBI Biochar Academy provides direct training for farmers, agriculture extension agents, policymakers, climate-smart agriculture organizational staff, climate project developers, and researchers interested in practical knowledge.”

“July 3 - Summer marks a nervous time for Europe’s winemakers. The vines have flowered, the pollinated blooms have dispersed and the onset of ripening (la véraison) has already begun. The fate of the harvest now rests on the weather: the better the sun, the fatter their final fruit.

Adding to their nerves is confusion over an upcoming vote in the European Parliament over soil protection. A leaked draft of the EU Soil Health Law, which is due to be released by the European Commission on Wednesday, suggests that EU policymakers have rowed back on calls by progressive businesses and environmentalists to introduce binding obligations on companies.”

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Gladys Foliyamu is a smallholder farmer in Malawi who has increased her household food security and income opportunities through home gardening. Gladys is supported by the NEVAM project from Agri-Impact Malawi who advocate for making the most of available land through sustainable farming practices.

Co-organizers of the dialogue on soil health – the Parliamentary Committee for the Development of Family Farms of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Mateusz Ciasnocha and the European Carbon Farmers – inform about the success of the policy event which took place at the Parliament of the Republic of Poland on Wednesday, 28 June 2023. The event was titled Soil health as critical for the health of farms, the health of the society and the health of the homeland and brought together a multitude of stakeholders to discuss the European Mission for Soil Health and its relevance in Poland.

The first Northern European Regional Meeting of the international 4 per 1000 Initiative took place in Helsinki, Finland from 6-8 June 2023. It was mainly and greatly organized by the Baltic Sea Action Group.

On 15 June, the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) together with the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS), and the International “4 per 1000” Initiative, supported by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), hosted a policy dialogue luncheon at the culmination of the 58th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SBs) in Bonn, Germany.

On 15 May, the Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP) convened a network session to discuss the potential the Soil Health Resolution offers for transforming food systems as per their objectives. NFP is a consortium of initiatives by Dutch organizations and partners from Low and Middle-Income Countries working towards food and nutrition security and achieving SDG2 by 2030. With soil serving as the very foundation of food systems, scaling soil health is a major part of their remit.

betterSoil for a better world is an organisation dedicated to scaling soil health globally. Chairperson and founder, Azadeh Farajpour, shares critical insight into why this mission is so important. This video was shared as part of the betterSoil intervention at the May 2023 ChangeNOW conference in Paris, France.

“West Africa fertilizer policy decision-makers and experts issued an official Ministerial Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health in West Africa at the close of a high-level round table organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with technical and funding support by IFDC’s Feed the Future EnGRAIS project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the World Bank, respectively.”

Aisha Hassan and Lukas Paltanavičius are cycling across the world to learn hands-on about practices of regenerative agriculture. In this guest article on the Furrow, they uncover how regenerative agriculture helps to increase biodiversity.

“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.”

Burning of unused crop residue is a common practice among farmers in India, contributing to carbon emissions and air pollution. BAIF and GIZ have partnered to establish a farmer producer organisation to convert this residue into biochar. Farmers sell their waste biomass to the FPO and purchase biochar to apply to their crop fields.

10 MAY 2023: The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) hosted a Breakout Session at the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, DC, USA. Global leaders from policy, industry, producer organisations, civil society groups, and scientists and researchers came together for the three-day Summit to drive their work on climate-smart agriculture and innovations in food systems.

Health of the Soil (HotS) recently launched the "Love in Soil Again" (LISA) Initiative, a new plan that has been ambitiously designed to restore and facilitate deep-rooted craving, love, loyalty, respect and expertise for the health of our soils.

“As part of the Assessment of State Fertilizer Scenario and Promoting Efficient Nutrient Management (ASPEN) project, the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Government of Assam, Punjab Agricultural University, Feed the Future, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and National Agro Industries, have developed a seed-and-fertilizer drill.”

“Srouy’s hands move deftly amongst the vines, her thumb and forefinger pinching each ripe bean from its stem. By the end of the month, she will have harvested some 60 kilograms of beans for sale to her local farmers’ cooperative. Today, after forty years of farming, Srouy is as much entrepreneur as farmer…”

“One project that has been successful in integrating sustainable solutions for energy and water use in agriculture is the Laikipia Isiolo Samburu Transforming the Environment Through Nexus (LISTEN) project in Kenya. The project, implemented by SNV, AGRA and FCDC with funding from EKN, uses the nexus approach to build the knowledge of smallholder farming communities to adopt climate-smart techniques and practices…”

“64 Agriculture Ministers adopted an ambitious final communiqué at the 15th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference, part of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA). The GFFA 2023 addresses the issue of: “Food Systems Transformation: A Worldwide Response to Multiple Crises”. The Ukranian President Zelenskyy sent an appeal to the Minister of Agriculture.”

During an expert panel at the 2023 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), the WFP brought together speakers representing research institutions, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations to discuss solutions for creating crisis-proof and climate-friendly food systems with a focus on sustainable land use and the role of soils.

The CA4SH January Partner Meeting provided updates from across the Coalition, and an opportunity for brainstorming next steps in advanving the global soil health agenda.