As 40 percent of the planet’s soils are degraded, their role in climate mitigation, nutrient cycling and water storage is becoming quickly compromised. And so is their role in supporting nutritious diets now and in the future. Action to restore global soil health is urgent. But how can we create an enabling environment to help millions of farmers adopt sustainable soil management practices over the long haul?
On 15 July 2022, the digital forum ‘Transforming food systems from the bottom up: Social innovations for soil restoration’ featured lessons learned from joint efforts by the BMZ ‘One world, no hunger’ initiative, the GIZ Global Soil Programme, TMG Think Tank for Sustainability and other partners.
Expert voices and frontline social innovators presented the results of successful bottom-up initiatives in Africa and discussed how they could be expanded and replicated. Being part of those initiatives, they explained how they have contributed to more secure land rights in Burkina Faso and Kenya and wide knowledge transfer among farmers in Benin.
The social innovations topics explored during the session included addressing socio-cultural and governance barriers to the use of sustainable soil management practices, getting farmers to share knowledge through ‘social debt’ schemes, and securing land access, especially for women and youth, through community-driven consensus building and community-driven lease guidelines.
Watch the session recording on the Global Landscapes Forum website, and discover additional resources to learn more about social innovations for soil restoration.
Join the conversation on social media using #EnablingSustainability and #ThinkLandscapes
