On the 18th and 25th of October 2023, the CA4SH Soil Health Steering Committee met virtually to discuss the remit of the Committee and the future directions of the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH).

On 17th October 2023, the Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) of the International "4 per 1000" Initiative presented the second instalment of the Soil Carbon Science Webinar Series with the session “Soil Inorganic Carbon: Unveiling its Role in the Global Carbon Cycle”.

“A new study estimates that biochar could capture as much as 3 billion metric tons of CO2 each year. Here’s how the process works.”

Read the full story from fastcompany.com

By Adele Peters

“Soil is a living entity [and], like any other living thing, has health,” shared Dr Rattan Lal during his keynote address at the virtual side event hosted by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition (SPG Coalition) at the 2023 Borlaug International Dialogue.

Aisha and Lukas have been cycling from farm to farm, documenting regenerative farming practices on the ground to realize their goal of publishing a book and documentary to raise awareness. Read their recent blog about their time in Tanzania.

By Juliet Tsuma

“On October 11th, 2023, ILC Africa had a side event on the sidelines of the Global Landscape Forum, focusing on safeguarding tenure security in the context of landscape restoration.”

Read the full story from the International Land Coalition

By Harry Johnstone

“Justus Ndemwa is sitting on an empty plastic water canister. He looks away. His voice is soft and faltering. “For five years the rains have failed,” he says.

Some days, the 72-year-old, who suffers from anaemia, eats only rice or beans. He is not alone. Now because of the high cost of food and the impacts of climate change, millions of Kenyans face hunger every day. As the situation persists, something, surely, has to change.”

Read the full article from The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

“At the Africa Climate Summit, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), with support from AICCRA and the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), convened an important side event ahead of the African Union's Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit later this year.”

This story was originally posted by AICCRA.

“The first-of-its-kind data highlights biochar’s potential to scale carbon removals as a win-win solution for people and the planet.

• Biochar can potentially remove up to 6% of global emissions annually – the approximate equivalent of 3 billion tonnes of CO2 or the total emissions of 803 coal-fired power plants in one year.

• Biochar also has a minimum removal potential of 10% in over 25 countries, concentrated in Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe, and can potentially reduce carbon emissions by over 30% in Eswatini and more than 20% in Malawi, Argentina, and Ghana.

• The greatest carbon dioxide removal (CDR) potential – rests with the world’s biggest emitters, including China, the United States, Brazil, and India, who can chart a pathway for sustainable emissions reductions through biochar.”

Read the full article from the International Biochar Initiative

In order to foster scientific exchange on recent research and to feed into ongoing scientific debates around Soil Health and Soil Carbon Sequestration, the "4 per 1000" STC launched this new webinar series on September 7 with the webinar "Is there a limit to soil organic carbon sequestration?". This first insightful scientific webinar focused on soil carbon saturation.

“The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the apex continental technical institution responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research and development initiatives, shared its experiences during a side event at the Africa Union Pavilion during the ongoing Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The event focused on the urgent need to accelerate action in promoting soil health as a crucial strategy for addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

Read the full story by Oluwole Fatunbi (FARA)

At the Africa Food Systems Forum, CA4SH called upon the global community to recognize soil as the common thread weaving through complex challenges such as food and nutrition security, poverty reduction, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

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.

Setting record attendance for the event, the Argentine No-till Farmers Association (Aapresid) XXXI edition of its annual “C, a life element” Congress gathered renowned national and international mentors and professionals from the farming sector. Led by companies and agricultural producers, more than 7800 people from all around Argentina, and the World showed their enthusiasm for healthy soil and food systems.

Rangelands cover about half of the Earth’s land surface, store between 10 and 30% of terrestrial carbon, and support over 2 billion people, yet they are under-recognized and under-valued and have been largely ignored in sustainable development agendas and climate negotiations.

On 21 August 2023, CA4SH joined CIFOR-ICRAF, Focali, IGAD, SIWI, SLU, University of Nairobi, and WWF at the 2023 World Water Week organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in a virtual session to discuss water-smart rangeland restoration.

Meet Survivor Aid; a youth-led NGO based in South Sudan who are working to empower smallholder farmers to adopt sustainable farming methods that are good for people and the planet.

“A recent study has found that more than half of Earth's species live in the soil, with the study finding it was the world's most biodiverse habitat.

The importance of healthy soil around the world was the focus of a panel chaired by Tania Strauss, the World Economic Forum’s Head of Food and Water, at the Forum’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China.”

Read the full story from the World Economic Forum

Emphasizing the critical need for sustainable farming practices, the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and SNV held a side event on the second day of the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment titled “From the soil up: How can agroecology and regenerative agriculture transform food systems.”

BY GONZALO MUÑOZ, HIGH-LEVEL CHAMPION FOR COP25

Farmers and fisherfolk, cities, businesses, financial institutions, and civil society are taking action to transform our food systems. The UN Food Systems Summit+2 (UNFSS+2) in Rome is set to measure and accelerate progress, marking a pivotal moment before COP28. Gonzalo Munoz, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP25, underscores the urgency to scale food systems action to achieve food and nutrition security, as a solution to deliver climate mitigation and adaptation, and protect and restore our natural world. He outlines how non-state actors can play a catalytic role towards more sustainable and resilient food systems.

On 24 July, the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), the Agroecology Coalition, the Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable FS for Children and All (HDSFS), and the Food is Never Waste Coalition convened an official side event at the UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS STM+2) to discuss the link between agroecology, soil health and nutrition for all.