Loving the Soil: The Ground for Global Food Security

Soil is the foundation of food production and a critical component of resilient agricultural systems. Yet, over 33% of the world’s soils are degraded, threatening crop yields, nutrition, biodiversity, and climate stability. Healthy soils not only sustain productivity but also store carbon, retain water, and protect ecosystems — making them central to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Loving the Soil reframes soil from background resource to living infrastructure at the heart of food security and climate resilience. The session convenes farmers’ organizations, soil scientists, Indigenous and local knowledge holders, agri-tech start-ups, multilateral banks, and policy makers to co-design pathways that regenerate soils while improving livelihoods.

We begin with a science-based overview of soil functions—structure, organic matter, microbial diversity—and why these underpin yield stability, drought tolerance, nutrient density, and carbon storage. Case studies from rain-fed, irrigated, and peri-urban systems will demonstrate how regenerative practices—cover crops, diversified rotations, compost/biostimulants, managed grazing, reduced tillage, and agroforestry—can restore soil organic carbon and water-holding capacity within 2–5 seasons.

A technology segment showcases practical tools: near-infrared and smartphone-enabled soil tests, remote-sensing proxies for soil organic carbon, and open-source dashboards that integrate field data with weather and satellite inputs. Emphasis is placed on credible MRV (measurement, reporting, verification) to avoid greenwashing and to link farmers to performance-based incentives.

Finance and policy contributors will outline blended instruments—micro-loans for inputs, result-based grants, insurance premiums tied to soil metrics, and emerging nature/soil credits—that de-risk adoption for smallholders and producer cooperatives. Indigenous speakers will foreground stewardship practices—mulching, intercropping, living terraces—and equitable benefit-sharing, ensuring that knowledge holders are partners, not token participants.