Soil Health Research
CA4SH advocates for the implementation of robust soil health monitoring frameworks to track interventions over time.
We are always collecting resources, updates, and initiatives from around the World to share in this Hub of all things soil health research.
Soil Health is “the ability of the soil to sustain the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems”
From the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS)
Research Initiatives
Land Degradation Surveillance Framework
The LDSF is a comprehensive method for assessing soil and land health that spans work in the field to the use of new and advanced data analytics. Land health generally refers to the degree to which the integrity of the soil, vegetation, water and air, as well as ecological processes, are balanced and sustained.
Recommended Measurements for Scaling Soil Health Assessment
The Soil Health Institute conducted a 3-year project that evaluated over 30 soil health indicators at 124 long-term agricultural research sites across North America, comparing conventional systems with regenerative soil health systems. Based on these results, SHI recommends three measurements to be widely applied across North America (and likely beyond) to evaluate soil health.
Resources
News and Updates
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.
