Soil Research
CA4SH advocates for the implementation of robust soil health monitoring frameworks to track interventions over time.
We are always collecting resources, updates, and initiatives from around the World to share in this Hub of all things soil health research.
Soil Health is “the ability of the soil to sustain the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems”
From the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS)
Research Initiatives
Land Degradation Surveillance Framework
The LDSF is a comprehensive method for assessing soil and land health that spans work in the field to the use of new and advanced data analytics. Land health generally refers to the degree to which the integrity of the soil, vegetation, water and air, as well as ecological processes, are balanced and sustained.
Recommended Measurements for Scaling Soil Health Assessment
The Soil Health Institute conducted a 3-year project that evaluated over 30 soil health indicators at 124 long-term agricultural research sites across North America, comparing conventional systems with regenerative soil health systems. Based on these results, SHI recommends three measurements to be widely applied across North America (and likely beyond) to evaluate soil health.
Resources
News and Updates
The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) is rooted in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Since our official launch in 2021, CA4SH has amassed a membership of over 200 multistakeholder organizations and collaborated with countless partners.
This year, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNCCD was focused on a people-centred approach to accelerating action on land and drought resilience, themed Our Land. Our Future.
Since healthy soil is essential to land and drought resilience, and provides co-benefits that link with all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the CA4SH network came together for a record engagement at COP16 to advocate for scaling global soil health.
On 5th December 2024, World Soil Day, YPARD Zambia hosted a YPARD Café dubbed "Youth Led Interventions for Soil Health and Climate Resilience". The event, which took place through an online platform, was meant to Convene a diverse group of young leaders to discuss youth led soil health interventions for climate resilience explore diverse opportunities available for youth to make impact in the soil health sector and foster youth engagement to elevate soil health interventions for climate resilience in national dialogues.
5 December 2024, on World Soil Day, the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) is pleased and privileged to share the latest creative writing initiative from Eliseus Bamporineza of #Youth4Soil called My Family Cares for Soil.
Eliseus is spearheading a much-needed and much-enjoyed space of creative advocacy in the global soil health movement. His dedication to his craft is evident through his independent writing and ever-growing bibliography.
My Family Cares for Soil is an engaging and educational booklet that follows a young girl’s journey as she explores soil health monitoring alongside family members. Each family member uses specific tools, like pH meters, moisture meters, and drones, to gather and analyze data on soil quality, helping the child understand the importance of caring for soil to improve farming outcomes.
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.
11-22 NOVEMBER 2024: The UN Climate Convention COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, themed In Solidarity for a Green World. The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) is a motivated, multi-stakeholder coalition working to strengthen, facilitate and accelerate the adoption and scaling of soil health restoration practices. Soil health drives productivity and economic growth, rural livelihoods, biodiversity protection, and mitigation and adaptation to the climate crisis.
At COP29, CA4SH convened members, partners, and other stakeholders to underscore the critical importance of including soil in the climate proceedings. CA4SH held and participated in several sessions that teased apart the intricacies of scaling global soil health on the ground through finance, policy, support for farmers and land managers, and more. Keeping soil health on the climate agenda is an overarching objective of CA4SH, and at COP29, the power of multistakeholder voices was heard. Read on for an overview of our engagement!
As a continuation of the organization’s first symposium this year in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the center’s 50th anniversary, the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) hosted a second symposium, “Future Proofing: Unified Action for Soil Health and Food Security,” on November 4 at KIT in Amsterdam.
The event brought together global agriculture experts, policymakers, leaders, and stakeholders to explore pathways for strengthening soil health and enhancing food security amidst a rapidly evolving landscape of environmental and economic challenges, in addition to the challenges of a growing population.
Read the full story and watch the event recordings on the IFDC website
