Across every continent, from UK farmland to the Amazon rainforest, nature has engineered one of the most advanced biological pest-control systems on Earth. These defenders are not insects, birds, or fungi—they are entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs): microscopic worms that track, infect and eliminate destructive soil-dwelling insect pests using a level of precision that rivals modern technology.

Advances such as Bionema’s encapsulated formulation technology are unlocking new global potential, making it possible to use these microscopic hunters in countries and climates where traditional formulations have failed.

Wise words from William Blake, and truly at the heart of Andy Murray’s macro photography journey.

My name is Andy Murray and for the last fourteen years I have been studying, photographing and writing about springtails and the other soil animals that make up the soil mesofauna. I document their lives on a website, chaosofdelight.org and try to pass on the unshakable and profound love and respect I have for these beautiful, tiny lives and the hidden world they sustain.

At the heart of COP30’s Blue Zone, the Action on Food Hub became a stage for one of the most urgent conversations of our time: how to scale farmer-centered restoration through the power of youth leadership. On Saturday, 15 November 2025, global voices converged to spotlight the role of young changemakers in driving soil health, food security and climate resilience.

The session was organized by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) in partnership with leading youth networks—including the Youth4Soil Initiative, the UNCCD Youth Caucus, Global Landscapes Forum Restoration Stewards, World Food Forum, International Association for Agriculture Students (IAAS), YOUNGO, and the Young Professionals for Agriculture Development (YPARD). Participants represented a global population from India, Belgium, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Peru, and more.

The Global Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Conference is more than a knowledge exchange platform; it is a platform to incite climate action in agriculture. Immediately preceding the UN Climate Conference (UNFCCC COP30) taking place in Belem, Brazil, organizers of the 2025 CSA conference saw this year’s assembly as a critical opportunity to align on the future of food and agriculture ahead of COP30.

As an organization with action as a primary tenet, the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) was invited to co-chair the Soil Health and Plant Nutrition thematic session with partners from the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC). The session comprised two sub-sessions on 5th and 6th November, dedicated to finance and technology, respectively. Below, we summarize the innovations and key messages shared in these sessions, and chart a way forward for soil health at COP.

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.

From 20-24 October 2025, researchers, innovators, public institutions, private sector actors and end users of agricultural technologies in West Africa, convened in Bamako, Mali for the Market for Agricultural Innovations and Technologies (MITA) flagship event. Organized around the theme of "facilitating access to integrated soil management agricultural technologies and innovations," the event is hosted by the Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricoles (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development or CORAF). 

Click to read reflections from CIFOR-ICRAF Scientist, Dr Bertin Takoutsing

From 14–16 October 2025, the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils (GFCs) from the World Economic Forumtook place in Dubai, UAE. The GFCs are the World’s foremost multistakeholder and interdisciplinary knowledge network dedicated to promoting innovative thinking to shape a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future. Each of the 37 Councils’ thematic insights are taken forward by the Forum’s ongoing initiatives, communities and meetings to ensure impact. The October meeting brought together over 500 global experts and 150 cybersecurity leaders to address the complex intersections of technology, resilience, and sustainability.

The GFC on Soils was established by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a strategic and timely response to the escalating global crisis of soil degradation. With over one-third of the world’s soils already degraded and desertification threatening food security, climate stability, and biodiversity, the council was formed to galvanize international action and innovation around soil health.

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.

Addis Ababa, October 21, 2025 (ENA) - The launch of the AfrioCAT network in Addis Ababa is expected to assist the fight against land degradation and food insecurity in the continent, AUDA-NEPAD Programme Officer for Climate Change said.

This was made public during an inaugural workshop convened in Addis Ababa today co-hosted by AUDA-NEPAD and the Water and Land Resource Centre of African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and other key partners, and the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT).

AfrioCAT will serve as the official WOCAT Regional Cluster for Africa, is expected to significantly boost regional efforts in Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

As Brazil prepares to host COP30 in Belém, CGIAR Climate Action, together with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Ministerio da Agricultura - MAPA), Embrapa, and CGIAR Multifunctional Landscapes, are convening a series of high-level dialogues to put biological solutions at the center of climate action in agriculture.

This webinar showcased how biological nutrient management technologies can be mainstreamed across cropping systems through evidence-based solutions that align science, policy, and practice. By highlighting innovations in phosphorus solubilization, microbial inoculants, and integrated crop-livestock-agroforestry systems, the session aimed to catalyze increased investment from governments, private sector actors, and development partners while demonstrating concrete pathways for farmers to reduce input dependency and enhance soil health at scale.

From 31st August, 2025 to 5th September,  2025, the 15th Africa Food Systems Forum took place in Dakar, Senegal under the theme "Africa's Youth: Leading Collaboration, Innovation and Implementation of Agri-Food Systems Transformation". The 2025 forum convened over 6,000 stakeholders from 106 countries, representing more than 120 institutions. The Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH), alongside partners and #Youth4Soil, played a pivotal role across multiple high-level sessions, advancing the soil health agenda and youth engagement in sustainable agri-food systems transformation. 

The recent establishment of a mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy laboratory at the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in the capital city of Banjul is set to bring wide-reaching benefits to decision-making by providing inclusive and fast analysis compared to conventional laboratory techniques. MIR offers a faster, more inclusive and cost-effective way to analyse soil health, enabling large-scale projects, including national surveys and supporting sustainable farming and landscape restoration.

The MIR lab in The Gambia is part of a growing network led by CIFOR-ICRAF’s Soil-Plant Spectral Diagnostics Laboratory in Nairobi, which has pioneered dry spectral soil analysis across Africa since 2009.

24 June 2025 | The second virtual #Youth4Soil Solutions Showcase, themed “Restore. Reform. Reap.” spotlighted the critical role youth are playing in reversing land degradation, rethinking failed systems and reaping the collective benefits of healthier ecosystems.

Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it’s a daily reality for millions of people around the world. And nowhere is this more evident than in the systems that feed us.

Farmers and fishers are on the frontlines of a crisis they did not create. As the climate shifts, so too must our approach to food. It’s time to put food and agricultural systems at the centre of climate adaptation.

Read the full story from WWF

Rangelands are a critical ecosystem, deeply rooted in traditional, indigenous land uses and livelihoods, and a major player for carbon sequestration, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and climate adaptation. As scientific and multistakeholder organizations, the CIFOR-ICRAF Soil and Land Health Research Theme and the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) attended and led several sessions at the 2025 International Rangelands Congress (IRC) from 2-6 June 2025 in Adelaide Australia, including a two-day pre-congress workshop toward a Global Rangelands Standard & Monitoring Framework.

On 5 June 2025, on the occasion of World Environment Day, the SOILL-Startup project officially announces the official launch of the SOILL Hub, a new collaborative digital platform designed to accelerate the European transition to healthy soils by 2030, in support of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” and its community of Living Labs.

27 May 2025: The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) co-hosted a webinar exploring the role of multi-stakeholder action in addressing financing, implementation, and knowledge barriers to scaling soil health solutions.

Soil health is the foundation of agriculture and therefore a crucial prerequisite for feeding humanity. Minhaj Ameen from the Agroecology Fund on how healthy soils can be achieved.

The British Society of Soil Science is currently accepting oral and poster abstracts for both their Annual Conference and Early Careers Conference in December. The abstract review panel is accepting abstracts in one of five topics linked to the conference theme, Resilient Soils for a Sustainable Future.

Swansea, UK – 21 May 2025 – Bionema Group Ltd., a pioneering UK biocontrol technology company, has been awarded the King’s Award for Enterprise – Innovation 2024, recognising its world-leading innovations in sustainable crop protection and soil regeneration.