The soil beneath our feet 🌱

Soil is much more than just dirt beneath our feet.

It is a living and breathing ecosystem that supports agriculture, biodiversity, water cycles and even our climate.

Our planet’s survival depends on the precious link with soil. Over 95 percent of our food comes from soils. Besides, they supply 15 of the 18 naturally occurring chemical elements essential to plants.

However, in the face of climate change and human activity, our soils are being degraded. Erosion disrupts the natural balance, reducing water infiltration and availability for all forms of life, and decreasing the level of vitamins and nutrients in food.

Sustainable soil management practices, such as minimum tillage, crop rotation, organic matter addition, and cover cropping, improve soil health, reduce erosion and pollution, and enhance water infiltration and storage. These practices also preserve soil biodiversity, improve fertility, and contribute to carbon sequestration, playing a crucial role in the fight against climate change.

World Soil Day 2024 (WSD) campaign, under the theme Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage underscores the importance of accurate soil data and information in understanding soils characteristics and supporting informed decision-making on sustainable soil management for food security.

On World Soil Day, celebrated annually on 5 December, here are five key reasons for the decline in soil health and potential solutions. 

1. Drought.
2. Land degradation.
3. Industrial farming.
4. Chemicals and pollution.
5. Diet and nutrition.