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Friend --
According to the recent United
Nations report, Status of the
World’s Soil Resources, the
world can ameliorate soil
degradation if more sustainable
practices are promptly
implemented. The U.N. Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
defines soil degradation as "a change
in the soil health status
resulting in a diminished capacity of
the ecosystem to provide goods
and services for its beneficiaries. Degraded
soils have a
health status, such that they do not
provide the normal goods and
services of the particular soil in
its ecosystem.”
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Soils are naturally incredibly
diverse. One teaspoon of soil could
contain billions of microbes,
thousands of species of protozoa and
fungi, mites, and nematodes, and a
couple of termite species. But a
2003 study, “Soil Diversity and Land
Use in the United States,”
published by the University of
Berkeley, found that 4.5
percent of the soils in the United
States are in danger of substantial
loss or complete extinction as a
result of urbanization and
agriculture. In sub-Saharan Africa,
soil is under threat as a result
of overgrazing and other
unsustainable practices.
According to FAO Director-General
José Graziano da Silva,
“further loss of productive
soils would severely damage food
production and food security,
amplify food-price volatility, and
potentially plunge millions of
people into hunger and
poverty.” It is imperative
that we take action now to protect
and renew soils to ensure a more food
secure future.
Luckily, there are solutions. One
answer is growing a diversity of
crops. Monoculture crops like corn and
soybeans tend to be hard on
soils, depleting nutrients rather than
restoring them. But growing
crops in rotation and growing a
variety of crops can help restore
soils and help both large and small
farms produce more nutrients per
acre or hectare.
Farmers all over the world are also
revitalizing soils by
incorporating cover crops such as
winter wheat, rye, and clover or
planting perennial varieties of
sorghum, sunflower, and wheatgrasses
that can help hold soils in place.
Thankfully, there are hundreds of
organizations and individuals
working to improve soil health and
restore land quality, and Food Tank
is excited to highlight 22 of these
projects which recognize that soil
is more than just dirt.
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African Forest Landscape
Restoration
Initiative (AFR100)—AFR100,
an African-led initiative funded
by the German Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development and
the World Resources Institute, aims
to bring 100 million hectares of
degraded forest landscapes into the
process of restoration by 2030.
The initiative seeks to carry out
the restoration project in a
balanced way that includes women,
local communities, and vulnerable
people.
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Aga Khan Rural Support
Programme in India
(AKRSP)—An
offspring of the Aga Khan
Foundation, AKRSP strives to provide
communities with food security,
increased net incomes, and improved
outcomes for farmers. To date,
AKRSP’s programs have enhanced over
40,000 hectares of land in India’s
rural areas. The programs are
composed of watershed groups,
irrigation and groundwater recharge
systems, river basin management, and
over 1,000 check dams and
irrigation tanks.
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Asia Soil Conservation
Network for the Humid Tropics
(ASOCON)—Formed in 1989 with the
support of United Nations
Development
Program (UNDP) and the FAO, ASOCON
strives to assist member countries
in developing and disseminating soil
and water conservation practices
for small-scale farmers. It is
composed of a coordinating unit at
the
Ministry of Forestry in Jakarta and
National Coordinating Committees
established by China, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea,
Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Hosting regional workshops and
training, ASOCON helps small-scale
farmers be more sustainable and
productive. ASOCON has also worked
on the Conservation of Lands in
Asia and the Pacific project.
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The British Society of Soil
Science—Founded in 1947,
The British Society of Soil Science
furthers the study of soil,
encourages participation from all
those interested in the study of use
and soil, and issues an annual
publication. The Society serves as a
forum for the exchange of ideas for
soil improvement and provides a
framework for soil scientists to
represent their views to other
organizations and decisionmaking
bodies.
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DeCo!—DeCo! is a
Ghanaian NGO that uses a social
business approach to produce organic
fertilizer for small farmers. It
strives to include the local
community in its work as much as
possible
while using rich organic compost to
double farmers’ crop yields and
increase food security.
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The Hummingbird Project—This
project trains rural
farmers in India’s suicide belt, an
area in Punjab state where there
is a high rate of farmer suicides.
The program teaches about the soil
food web and various composting
techniques in the hopes of
facilitating a transition back to
organic, natural farming methods.
Since 2011, The Hummingbird Project
has reached 2,500 individuals in
six states across India and has
provided infrastructures such as
water
harvesting and compost and
irrigation systems to 12 farmers’
cooperatives.
-
International Soil Reference
and Information Centre
(ISRIC)—Established in 1966, ISRIC
is an independent institute in The
Netherlands that prioritizes work in
three areas: soil data and soil
mapping, application of soil data in
global development issues, and
training and education. To celebrate
its 50th anniversary this year,
ISRIC has many events planned
throughout 2016 which will highlight
its
history and focus on its future.
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Kiss the Ground—This
organization uses media
campaigns, community gardening, and
networking to preserve soil in
California. Kiss the Ground
emphasizes the potential for healthy
soil
to sequester carbon, reduce climate
change, and pave the way for
better water supplies, restored
habitats, and improved farming.
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The Land Institute—Founded
in 1976, The Land
Institute is a science-based
research organization that uses
nature as
a model for agriculture to promote
sustainable food production. The
Land Institute accomplishes this
through growing perennial grains in
mixtures to create ecosystems that
reflect the productivity and
resilience of prairies. Other goals
include ending soil erosion,
moving away from chemical inputs in
agriculture, restoring soil
health, cutting back on carbon
emissions, and enhancing food
security.
The organization’s recent strategy
focuses on partnering with public
institutions to further research
the Natural Systems Agriculture.
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People 4 Soil—People
4 Soil is an open network of
European NGOs, research institutes,
farmers associations, and
environmental groups that aim to
have Europe recognize soil as a
common good. People 4 Soil wants to
prioritize soil in the European
Union’s legislation, so they
launched an online petition to be
promoted by European citizens that
calls for giving a right to the
soil.
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RECARE—RECARE aims
to prevent and remediate soil
degradation in Europe through better
land care. RECARE noticed a
dearth of knowledge on soil threats
in Europe particularly regarding
the functioning and complexity of
soil systems and how they are
affected by human activities. They
use 17 case studies covering a
range of soil threats in different
socio-economic and bio-physical
environments across Europe to
integrate and advance the knowledge
of
stakeholders and scientists.
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The Red Soil Project—This
project, with offices in
Uganda and Canada, teaches the
building blocks of sustainable
agriculture to African farmers to
improve productivity and create
self-sufficient communities which
can be sustainable without the help
of aid. To reach rural farmers, The
Red Soil Project partners with
local community organizations and
utilizes their existing community
networks to deliver hands-on
workshops in soil building,
integrated
pest management, rocket stoves,
agroforestry, and animal
husbandry.
-
Rodale Institute—The
Rodale
Institute, located in Pennsylvania,
conducts independent
agricultural research in the field
with the objective of giving
farmers the knowledge and tools to
improve soil health, yields, and
crop quality while simplifying farm
management. By helping to build
healthy soils through organic
practices, the Rodale Institute
wants to
ensure that people feel confident
that they are feeding their families
food that is good for them and the
world around them.
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Society for Ecological
Restoration (SER)—Comprised
of
ecosystem activists around the
world, SER is a nonprofit
organization
focused on promoting and advancing
the sciences and practices of
ecological restoration. It aims to
address desertification, land and
water degradation, and associated
loss of sustainable livelihoods. SER
also has its own scientific and
technical peer-reviewed journal
titled
“Restoration Ecology.”
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Soil Association—Based
in the United Kingdom, Soil
Association campaigns for healthy,
humane, and sustainable food,
farming, and land use. The
organization works in schools
through
the Food for Life Partnership to
improve health outcomes for
children.
Additionally, through the Soil
Association Certification, the
U.K.’s
largest organic certification body,
Soil Association creates and
develops consumer trust and
knowledge about organic food.
-
Soil Conservation Service of
Iceland (SCSI)—SCSI is a
governmental agency founded in 1907
that operates under the Ministry
for the Environment in Iceland.
Recognizing that soil degradation is
the largest environmental problem in
Iceland, SCSI is dedicated to
working both on the large-scale,
policymaking level, as well as on
the
small-scale level with reclamation
projects. SCSI also is part of the
United Nations University’s Land
Restoration Training Programme.
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Soil Science Society of
America (SSSA)—Founded in
1936 and based in Madison,
Wisconsin, SSSA is made up of
thousands of
members and certified professionals
who are dedicated to advancing the
soil science field. SSSA provides
information about soil topics such
as ecosystem sustainability, waste
management, and wise land use. The
Society is also part of the Alliance
of Crop, Soil, and Environmental
Science Societies.
-
Soil and Water Conservation
Society (SWCS)—SWCS, a
nonprofit organization founded in
1943, is based in Iowa but has
chapters throughout the United
States and Canada and over 4,000
members around the world. Its
mission is to foster the science and
art
of natural resource conservation and
improve the way land is used to
produce food. SWCS also published
the Journal of Soil and Water
Conservation, which focuses on the
science and art of natural resource
management for sustainability.
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Sustainable Organic
Integrated Livelihoods
(SOIL)—Based in Haiti and founded in
2006, SOIL is dedicated to
transforming human waste into useful
resources. SOIL uses EcoSan, an
ecological sanitation process that
returns nutrients from human waste
to the soil. SOIL operates under a
Liberation Ecology philosophy that
the most threatened and marginalized
people will be found living in
similarly threatened ecosystems.
This philosophy guides SOIL’s focus
on promoting dignity, health, and
sustainable livelihoods.
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Trees for the Future—Trees
for the Future is
dedicated to planting Forest Gardens
that provide families and
livestock with sustainable food
sources as well as increased annual
income. The organization currently
has fourteen tree-planting projects
in Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda,
and Tanzania, which are helping
to restore soil that was
unproductive for decades.
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Valle La Paz—Valle
La Paz, based in Mexico, believes
that there can be no healthy man on
a sick planet. The organization
educates youth about environmental
conservation and healthy
lifestyles, and it works to increase
soil fertility by creating
agricultural biodiversity.
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World Overview of
Conservation Approaches and
Technologies
(WOCAT)—Founded in 1992 and based in
Switzerland, WOCAT is a global
network of specialists in soil and
water conservation. WOCAT supports
innovation and decision making
processes in Sustainable Land
Management. WOCAT was officially
recognized by the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification
in 2014 as the most highly
recommended database for Sustainable
Land
Management best practices.
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article with your social network!
Sincerely,
Danielle
Nierenberg
President, Food
Tank
foodtank.com
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This week,
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22
organizations that are
restoring soils and
ecosystems
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