“But the truth is soil is literally at the root of many pressing national security challenges that we face.

You all know this, and we know this increasingly with every passing day: without good soil, crops fail, prices rise, people go hungry.”

- Remarks from Anthony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, USA

“Seth J. Itzkan of Soil4Climate discusses the role of holistically managed ruminants to restore soil biology and mitigate global warming. Nikita Zimov (Pleistocene Park) and Alasdair MacLeod (Macdoch Group) in attendance.”

Read the full story from Soil4Climate

December 9th, COP28 UAE - In an event held at the Land & Drought Resilience Pavilion, the Coalition of Action 4 soil Health, the WWF, CIFOR-ICRAF and AICCRA convened a discourse on the imperative need to reinforce Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by emphasizing soil health and nature-based solutions. The event, titled “Strengthening NDCs for Soil Health - learning from practical experience”, brought together a multitude of stakeholders including government representatives, scientists, farmers, and development practitioners to deliberate on critical action for soil health to shape the global climate agenda.

By Aisha and Lukas, Cycle to Farms

“Amidst Criticism, COP28 in UAE Shows Promise for Food and Agriculture

We had the honor of attending COP28 in Dubai as observers, and despite initial skepticism, we came away impressed by the positive tone and the tangible progress made on food and agriculture.”

Click to read the full story

The COP28 Presidency announced that 134 world leaders have signed up to its landmark agriculture, food and climate action declaration.

Click to read the details and download the press release and declaration.

December 5th, COP28 UAE - The Food Systems Pavilion at COP28 was filled with discussions centred around the critical theme of soil health during the event “Common Ground: Soil Health Action for Nature, People, and Climate”, organized by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) to mark World Soil Day.

In the small village of Kikandwa, in the Mityana district of Uganda, villagers have transformed their landscape by sheer force of will, a commitment to healthy soils, and by working together to form the Kikandwa Environmental Association (KEA).

“With nearly 400 participants from 40 countries, 40+ speakers, 30+ exhibitors, plus our amazing sponsors US Biochar Initiative, Carbonfuture, KMW Energy Systems, Puro.earth, and Pyreg, plus IBI’s first media partner, the Carbon Herald, we had a vibrant three days of presentations, networking, and collaboration.”

Read the whole review from the International Biochar Initiative’s Annual Symposium

SEEADO is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization that works to promote a sustainable environment and agriculture, and mainstream ecotourism into conservation for the benefit of people and biodiversity.

“Soils: Where food begins” will be the theme of this year’s World Soil Day on December 5. In line with this theme, the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) will celebrate the day at the COP28 Food Systems Pavilion by organizing a full day of events dedicated to this critical but often overlooked ecosystem. The day will end with a dinner on the margins of COP for senior leaders working within the soil health space, to stress the importance of soils as an asset and garner commitments and pledges to further the adoption of sustainable soil management practices at the global level.

Read the full story from IFA

• 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

With increasing droughts, initiatives to restore soil and manage water resources effectively are a necessity to ensure food security, but the clock is ticking, and they must be accompanied by investments in farmers.

By Aggrey Agumya, Sekai Mudonhi for Devex

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.