By Dr Anneke Trux, Co-Lead of Global Programmes “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil) and “Soil Matters – Innovations for Soil Health and Agroecology”

Soils are finally stepping into the spotlight of global climate action! They do so for good reasons. Long underestimated, they are now recognised as a pillar for climate mitigation. Yet, let’s be clear: while soils are an emerging hero, they are not a silver bullet. They must complement, not replace, mitigation efforts in energy, transport, industry and other.

The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Union Commission have convened a Soil Health Monitoring Task Force to design and operationalize a systematic, scientifically sound monitoring system aligned with the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) process. 

Ahead of the CAADP Partnership Platform (CAADP PP), which took place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 29-31 October 2025, AGRA supported the convening of the Task Team meeting on 27 and 28 October. The validation meeting provided a platform for the Task Force to present its work on building a soil health monitoring system in support of the AFSH Action Plan, including identifying key indicators and a relevant soil health definition. Members of the Task Force and the broader AFSH stakeholder group attended and provided feedback through several participatory workshop sessions.

Stories of Change to capture innovation journeys and invisible transformative changes

The DeSIRA initiative is a portfolio of 80 research and innovation (R&I) projects run in over 65 countries across three continents between 2019 and 2026, supported by a European Union contribution of €340 million. DeSIRA aims to enhance the contribution of R&I in addressing complex issues relating to sustainability transitions and agrifood system (AFS) transformation, towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in low- and middle-income countries.

The global project ProSoil of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit supports new methods to produce organic fertiliser and new approaches in switching to better and more sustainable cultivating practices in India as well as East and South Africa.

The Ukraine war has brought major disruptions to food and agricultural input supply chains around the globe. The entailing shortages of staple crops, fuel and mineral fertiliser have a direct negative impact on food security in Kenya. This has exacerbated the impact of parallel and previous crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, droughts and locust invasions, which, all together, have undermined poverty reduction.

Numerous techniques, practices and concepts for soil protection and rehabilitation are being tried and tested globally. Using the project “Soil protection and rehabilitation for food security” as an example, our authors demonstrate what counts in enabling such approaches to unfold impact at scale.

In India, the Green Revolution lifted millions of people out of poverty, yet the large-scale use of chemical fertilisers left the country’s soils severely depleted. ProSoil shows how Indian farmers join traditional and innovative practices to not only restore their soils but also mitigate climate change.

Waste management and soil degradation are two of India’s most pressing environmental concerns. The Indian state of Maharashtra, together with two GIZ projects, tackles both through one market mechanism – ‘city compost’. Urban municipal waste is composted and used as organic fertiliser in agriculture. This relieves the cities’ waste management and enhances rural soils and in turn productivity.