By Aisha and Lukas, Cycle to Farms

“Amidst Criticism, COP28 in UAE Shows Promise for Food and Agriculture

We had the honor of attending COP28 in Dubai as observers, and despite initial skepticism, we came away impressed by the positive tone and the tangible progress made on food and agriculture.”

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The COP28 Presidency announced that 134 world leaders have signed up to its landmark agriculture, food and climate action declaration.

Click to read the details and download the press release and declaration.

December 5th, COP28 UAE - The Food Systems Pavilion at COP28 was filled with discussions centred around the critical theme of soil health during the event “Common Ground: Soil Health Action for Nature, People, and Climate”, organized by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) to mark World Soil Day.

In the small village of Kikandwa, in the Mityana district of Uganda, villagers have transformed their landscape by sheer force of will, a commitment to healthy soils, and by working together to form the Kikandwa Environmental Association (KEA).

“With nearly 400 participants from 40 countries, 40+ speakers, 30+ exhibitors, plus our amazing sponsors US Biochar Initiative, Carbonfuture, KMW Energy Systems, Puro.earth, and Pyreg, plus IBI’s first media partner, the Carbon Herald, we had a vibrant three days of presentations, networking, and collaboration.”

Read the whole review from the International Biochar Initiative’s Annual Symposium

SEEADO is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization that works to promote a sustainable environment and agriculture, and mainstream ecotourism into conservation for the benefit of people and biodiversity.

“Soils: Where food begins” will be the theme of this year’s World Soil Day on December 5. In line with this theme, the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) will celebrate the day at the COP28 Food Systems Pavilion by organizing a full day of events dedicated to this critical but often overlooked ecosystem. The day will end with a dinner on the margins of COP for senior leaders working within the soil health space, to stress the importance of soils as an asset and garner commitments and pledges to further the adoption of sustainable soil management practices at the global level.

Read the full story from IFA

• Agreena registers two million hectares of European farmland on its pioneering soil carbon platform - an area the size of Slovenia

• More than 1,000 farmers across 17 countries have now joined AgreenaCarbon - transitioning from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture

• Agreena’s ability to scale soil carbon removals has been supported through the use of cutting-edge remote sensing technology coupled with machine learning

With increasing droughts, initiatives to restore soil and manage water resources effectively are a necessity to ensure food security, but the clock is ticking, and they must be accompanied by investments in farmers.

By Aggrey Agumya, Sekai Mudonhi for Devex

On the 18th and 25th of October 2023, the CA4SH Soil Health Steering Committee met virtually to discuss the remit of the Committee and the future directions of the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH).

On 17th October 2023, the Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) of the International "4 per 1000" Initiative presented the second instalment of the Soil Carbon Science Webinar Series with the session “Soil Inorganic Carbon: Unveiling its Role in the Global Carbon Cycle”.

“A new study estimates that biochar could capture as much as 3 billion metric tons of CO2 each year. Here’s how the process works.”

Read the full story from fastcompany.com

By Adele Peters

“Soil is a living entity [and], like any other living thing, has health,” shared Dr Rattan Lal during his keynote address at the virtual side event hosted by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition (SPG Coalition) at the 2023 Borlaug International Dialogue.

Aisha and Lukas have been cycling from farm to farm, documenting regenerative farming practices on the ground to realize their goal of publishing a book and documentary to raise awareness. Read their recent blog about their time in Tanzania.

By Juliet Tsuma

“On October 11th, 2023, ILC Africa had a side event on the sidelines of the Global Landscape Forum, focusing on safeguarding tenure security in the context of landscape restoration.”

Read the full story from the International Land Coalition

By Harry Johnstone

“Justus Ndemwa is sitting on an empty plastic water canister. He looks away. His voice is soft and faltering. “For five years the rains have failed,” he says.

Some days, the 72-year-old, who suffers from anaemia, eats only rice or beans. He is not alone. Now because of the high cost of food and the impacts of climate change, millions of Kenyans face hunger every day. As the situation persists, something, surely, has to change.”

Read the full article from The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

“At the Africa Climate Summit, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), with support from AICCRA and the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), convened an important side event ahead of the African Union's Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit later this year.”

This story was originally posted by AICCRA.

“The first-of-its-kind data highlights biochar’s potential to scale carbon removals as a win-win solution for people and the planet.

• Biochar can potentially remove up to 6% of global emissions annually – the approximate equivalent of 3 billion tonnes of CO2 or the total emissions of 803 coal-fired power plants in one year.

• Biochar also has a minimum removal potential of 10% in over 25 countries, concentrated in Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe, and can potentially reduce carbon emissions by over 30% in Eswatini and more than 20% in Malawi, Argentina, and Ghana.

• The greatest carbon dioxide removal (CDR) potential – rests with the world’s biggest emitters, including China, the United States, Brazil, and India, who can chart a pathway for sustainable emissions reductions through biochar.”

Read the full article from the International Biochar Initiative

In order to foster scientific exchange on recent research and to feed into ongoing scientific debates around Soil Health and Soil Carbon Sequestration, the "4 per 1000" STC launched this new webinar series on September 7 with the webinar "Is there a limit to soil organic carbon sequestration?". This first insightful scientific webinar focused on soil carbon saturation.

“The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the apex continental technical institution responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research and development initiatives, shared its experiences during a side event at the Africa Union Pavilion during the ongoing Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The event focused on the urgent need to accelerate action in promoting soil health as a crucial strategy for addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

Read the full story by Oluwole Fatunbi (FARA)