Resilience in soil ecosystems: Healthy soils means healthy people

Resilience takes many forms: ecosystem, human health, gender balances, income and more. 10 December marked the UNCCD COP16 Resilience Day that focused on improving ecosystem resilience to threats from land degradation, desertification, drought, water scarcity, and sand and dust storms.

The CGIAR Pavilion hosted the event Harnessing Soil Biodiversity for Drought Tolerance and Soil Health to set out ways to create more resilient soil ecosystems and the wealth of benefits that come with it.

Time is our enemy. The urgent need for action to restore soil resilience
Widespread soil degradation and biodiversity loss are pressing global challenges, particularly in drylands, which cover 66% of Africa and 40% of the world’s land area. To combat these issues, time is of the essence, and adopting proven practices quickly is critical to building resilience.

Rachid Moussadek, Senior Scientist at ICARDA, highlighted two key solutions: increasing soil organic carbon and fostering diverse soil fungi and bacteria. “When you increase carbon in soils, you enhance the soil’s ability to store water, which is extremely important in drylands,” he explained. This improved water retention not only supports drought tolerance but also helps regenerate degraded soils.

There are an estimated 2.5 million fungal species but only 155,000 have been identified. Elizabeth Warham, a plant scientist from the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, highlighted the vast potential and critical gaps in understanding fungal diversity. She emphasized that unlocking the role of fungi is essential for restoring soil health and biodiversity, given its significant contribution to nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning.

Leigh Ann Winowiecki, Global Research Lead for Soil and Land Health at CIFOR-ICRAF, announced that “the CGIAR has created a new CGIAR science program on ‘Resilient Soils’ where they are committed to measuring the biology of soils including using eDNA to identify new fungal and bacteria species.

Building a data-driven approach
The Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF), implemented by World Agroforestry/ CIFOR-ICRAF across 45 countries over the past two decades, has expanded to include biological indicators such as Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) spores, fungi-bacteria ratios, and macrofauna.

These indicators are used to establish regional thresholds for soil biology, which are critical for distinguishing between degraded and non-degraded land. This data-driven approach provides valuable insights into the biological activity of both rangeland and farming landscapes. Systematic monitoring through such frameworks is essential for guiding policy and practice to restore long-term degraded systems and enhance soil health.

The outcome: healthy soils, healthy people

Cargele Masso, Director of the Environmental Health and Biodiversity Impact Area Platform asked the audience, “How can we package our science so that farmers uptake practices? We need to show that they improve yield and income, and at the root, this comes through building soil biology and soil carbon!”

Chiyedza Heri, Founder of the Ubuntu Alliance, also noted that when we invest in our soils, they increase the health of communities, and decrease the burden on the healthcare system. The benefits of healthy soils make the health of ecosystems and humans more resilient.

Thoughts on carbon credits

There is contention around the efficacy of the carbon credit marketing system. Chiyedza noted that one issue is the idea that the carbon market only supports changes in the short term. This is because carbon markets pay for carbon dioxide sequestered from the atmosphere. When farmers change their practices from, for example, tilling to no-tilling, there is an increase in carbon stored in soils that take place. However, after doing this practice for 10-15 years, there is no more additional carbon being stored in the soil, so this would not fall under the carbon market’s framework anymore.

While this may seem unsustainable, Chiyedza explained that this model allows farmers to overcome the activation hump and start changing to more sustainable practices because it provides them a financial incentive. After the initial change period, soil health will increase, as well as the immunity of the plant, and farmers may see better quality foods and more productive lands in the long run. These benefits may incentivise farmers to continue implementing these practices even if they no longer receive carbon credits.

Deborah Mongína, a PhD researcher at the University of Nairobi and graduate fellow at ILRI, shared her perspective on what resilience in soils and research looks like for early-career scientists. She emphasized the importance of collaborative, interdisciplinary research, stating: “We should conduct research that bridges different disciplines to develop integrated solutions linking soil health, drought tolerance, and combating climate change.” However, she acknowledged that early-career scientists face challenges such as limited funding, particularly for emerging research areas like soil biology. Despite these hurdles, she highlighted promising opportunities, including leveraging metagenomics to gain deeper insights into soil microbiomes and fostering partnerships across academia, research centers, and private sectors. Such collaborations, she noted, are key to unlocking funding, mentorship, and innovative solutions for building soil resilience.

To further advance innovation in soil health and biodiversity, Elizabeth Warham from the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate announced an upcoming grant competition. The call will focus on supporting projects that link biodiversity, climate resilience, and improved livelihoods through nature-based solutions and systems approaches. Researchers are encouraged to prepare for this opportunity, which will open in February 2025