IUCN at UNFSS+

“This is confirmation of the increasing focus on the importance of soil health as the foundation of sustainable, equitable and resilient food systems - the organisers have allocated one of their scarce side event slots to this topic” says Pascale Bonzom, head of the Food and Agricultural Systems Team at IUCN. “We must build soil health into broader national policy and institutional frameworks, so that food systems link up with land use planning, agricultural development and climate strategies. If we can do that, soil health will drive food systems transformation”

Over one third of the earth’s surface is degraded, directly impacting soil’s ability to produce nutritious food, store carbon, regulate water cycles and support biodiversity and livelihoods. We need to find ways of scaling soil health to reverse this.

“Ever since we co-led Action Track 3 – boosting nature positive production – at the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, IUCN and other partners have driven the global momentum around soil health, producing research and tools like our Land Health Monitoring Framework” said Silvia Cardellino.  “Even so, soil health remains underrepresented in food systems planning, investment strategies and national implementation strategies, and our UNFSS+4 session aims to change that”.

The session will explore four interconnected pillars: evidence-based implementation; cross-sectoral partnerships; inclusive investment pathways; and policy coherence. Taken together, these pillars will encourage co-ordinated, context-specific action to scale soil health.

“This event will be a chance for me to speak about the foundational role of soil health for both agriculture and conservation”, said Silvia Cardellino. “IUCN’s Land Health Monitoring Framework is central to our ambition to encourage increased agrobiodiversity through public policy and changing agricultural approaches. IUCN, through its members and Commissions, is the leading organisation bringing together knowledge, science and data on the relationship between agriculture and conservation. Research shows that the presence of biodiversity above and below ground on agricultural land not only provides ecosystem services but also increases the resilience of agroecosystems.  What is needed is a framework that can be easily adapted to various scales, contexts and target audiences. IUCN’s Land Health Monitoring Framework fills an important gap by proposing a framework that meets these needs, providing the biodiversity monitoring, which is the first step towards monitoring the ecosystem services that agricultural landscapes provide to society.”

The IUCN Land Health Monitoring Framework – supported by IKEA Foundation, French Development Agency AFD and Pernod Ricard – consists of a Report, a Guidance Note and a forthcoming interactive online platform.

The event “Grounding Food Systems Transformation in Soil Health: Evidence and Cross-Sectoral Action” will take place in UNFSS+4 Caucus Room 11 on 28^th July, 13:00-14:15 EAT.

It is organised by the National Planning Authority of Uganda, Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), CIFOR-ICRAF, EIT Food, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (SIANI), Vi Agroforestry, Alliance Biodiversity-CIAT, Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), Conscious Planet-Save Soil, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

See full list of side events here
 

See Land health monitoring framework - resource | IUCN 

The Guidance Note, outlining a step-by-step approach, is available here