World Soil Day 2022 – Healthy soil for more sustainable food production
5 DECEMBER 2022
Celebrating World Soil Day
Article by Marina Vara Gutiérrez, Regenerative agriculture expert, AidEnvironment
Soil nutrition loss is one of the major degradation processes threatening food production and it is widely recognized among the most important problems for food security and sustainable food production at a global scale. World Soil Day 2022 centers on the theme ‘’Soils: where food begins.’’ The campaign aims to raise awareness on the importance of maintaining healthy agricultural ecosystems and human wellbeing by addressing the growing challenges in soil management and encouraging small scale farmers, large-scale farmers, governments, and institutions to improve soil health. As we celebrate the importance of working towards the management of healthy soils worldwide, we want to highlight the work developed under the Green Transformations Pathways (GTP) project in India, to achieve healthier soils through regenerative agriculture practices.
The GTP is a program founded by the IKEA Foundation and implemented through a consortium of four organizations, namely, Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), an NGO founded in 1983, involved among other projects in the implementation of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission in India; Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), founded in 2002 to reinforce the massive and critical task of ecological restoration in India; MetaMeta, a Dutch social enterprise deeply engaged in water and natural resources management projects around the world; and Aidenvironment, a Dutch not-for-profit organization implementing sustainable solutions to help protect and restore ecosystems across the world.
How can we properly take care of soil health? Regenerative agriculture is an innovative solution a boost to soil health
Although heavy use of chemical inputs and unsustainable management practices have depleted soil fertility all over the world, there is still hope to introduce a healthier relationship between agriculture and soil. The regenerative agriculture movement has gained momentum over the last years and promotes a framework that looks at farm plots as a farming system that is designed to regenerate natural resources while producing food. Thus, maintaining and increasing soil health and soil fertility is the aim of any regenerative farming practice.
The GTP project: putting the importance of soil health in the spotlight
At the core of the GTP rationale is the belief that fostering regenerative agriculture practices is crucial to achieving a vibrant local economy based on the production of healthy and nutritious food. The program enables and supports the sustainable management of natural resources in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, India. A key part of GTP interventions include training participants on practices to aid in maintaining and improving soil health. To highlight the work developed under the GTP project towards improving and promoting soil health in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, we will be releasing a series of articles in the coming weeks of December. Each article will touch upon different GTP regenerative agriculture interventions and their role in contributing to cultivating healthier soils.
Stay tuned!
