Measuring and validating farmland and soil health is not an easy process for all stakeholdersfrom farm to fork. Policy makers have to get access to reliable data to determine their policy orientations, farmers need to have access to affordable and reliable information to confirm or change their technical choices in the fields, investorsand businesses have to report on their impacts (value chains and own processes) in terms of emissions and storage (not talking about carbon credit buyers) and civil society, including consumers, must be provided with reliable and regular information to guide their lifestyle choices. All stakeholders have interests in MRV tools, reliableandat an accessible cost.

A 1h30 (90 min) format with a roundtable involving 6 speakers mixing scientists, technologies providers and users.

Improving soil health in agriculture can provide concrete solutions to the challenges posed by climate change, food insecurity and poverty. To improve soil health, a change of mind-set, knowledge and practices is crucial.  Nevertheless, access to scientific and traditional knowledge, as well as to adapted machinery and environmentally friendly inputs is often limited in smallholder settings. An enabling environment at a political level, which recognizes the possibilities and needs of small-holder producers as well as the effective organization of small holders to share efforts and exchange knowledge is crucial to turn the cards.

The event aimed to delve into the fundamental importance of soil health as backbone for resilient food systems as well as climate and nature action. It brought together diverse stakeholders from science, policy, development, conservation, and the private sector. It aimed to inspire and mobilise participants to champion soil-centric approaches, policies, and collection action.

Key themes:

1- Identify the specific call to action and suggested commitments from each institutional and thematic perspective to scale soil health.

2- Understand the Soil-Climate-Nature-Food Nexus, highlighting the multiple benefits of soil health: mitigate and adapt to climate change, restore biodiversity, improve water resilience, enhance food security, and protect natural and cultural heritage

3- Highlight stories for on-the-ground scaling of healthy soil practices

4- Examine the role of policy frameworks and an enabling environment in promoting sustainable soil management, climate-resilient agriculture, and soil-centric agricultural policies.

Since COP 21, agriculture, thanks to soil, has become an important part of the solutions to climate change. Regenerating soil health through appropriate practices (agroecology), is key to support farmers in this way. Thanks to testimonies of scientist, representative of farmers, start-up manager and agri-food company representative, panel has reviewed respective contributions of these players not climate change mitigation, and how farmers, who are the ones doing the job in the fields, can be supported to implement the difficult work of storing carbon in soil.

The event co-organized by the IRD, Cirad and the international “4 per 1000” Initiative, made it possible to share points of view and feedback from different actors around the improvement of soil health, with a dual objective of increasing agricultural productivity and capacities carbon sequestration in soils. This event directly addressed the issues of “climate”, “biodiversity” and “food security”, issues which are intrinsically linked. This event was based on a policy brief written and shared ahead of COP28 by the co-organizers.

It's not a secret that accessing carbon markets is challenging for many farmers. The existing paradigm requires highly skilled individuals to support developing, registering, validating and auditing a project. What is the true cost for farmers in engaging in these services, how sustainable are they and what could alternatives be? Join us for this insightful session to discover the answers.

Soils are at the heart of global issues and organic carbon (C) plays a major role in the fight against climate change by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. They are a reservoir of biodiversity and play a major role in food security (95% of our food depends directly on them). Storing organic carbon in soil contributes to their fertility, limiting their erosion and their capacity to retain water. Their sustainable management should make it possible to contribute to several of the United Nations SDGs including SDG 2 on zero hunger, SDG 13 on measures relating to the fight against climate change, and SDG 15 on conservation and restoration lands.

In the French overseas territories, soils are also at the heart of local and regional issues including climate change resilience, food autonomy, sustainable food which also fall under these objectives where overseas agricultural and forest soils occupy an important place . All of this meets the ambition of the international Initiative “4 per 1000: soils for food security and the climate” launched during COP21 in Paris. The Initiative invites all stakeholders involved to implement concrete actions promoting the storage of Carbon in soils through the promotion of practices. This involves encouraging stakeholders to engage in a transition towards productive, highly resilient agriculture and forestry, promoting sustainable development because it is based on appropriate land and soil management, creating jobs and income. .

A first “4 per 1000 France” study entitled “Storing 4 per 1000 of carbon in soils: the potential in France” (2019), looked at agricultural and forestry practices allowing Carbon to be stored in French soils. . It was extended by the “4 per 1000 Overseas” study https://www.etude-4p1000-outre-mer.fr/

which provides an inventory of knowledge on carbon stocks and flows in the soils of the overseas departments and regions (DROM), territories which represent more than 15% of the surface area of France. It thus enabled the identification of levers to be mobilized to promote the conservation of stocks and improve carbon storage, particularly in the soils of these territories. This inventory has the particular ambition of contributing to spaces for territorial and inter-territorial dialogue between science, politics and agricultural and forestry stakeholders, for the design of public policies or political decision-making. The devices and knowledge acquired in French overseas territories are essential elements of the scientific collaboration of our research organizations with the countries of the South to respond to the international challenges of agriculture and development. This is particularly the case for the Caribbean island territories for the Antilles, the Indian Ocean/East Africa zone for Reunion and the Amazon for Guyana.

Healthier soils are paramount to healthy ecosystems. They allow for better productivity, improved food quality and higher carbon sequestration. Multiple stakeholders shared their vision on pathways to healthier soils to achieve food and climate goals, in diverse socio-economic contexts.

This event aimed to continue advocacy with local and international decision-makers for the consideration of soils in the fight against climate change and for food security. By sharing expertise and experience, it aimed to convince and equip field stakeholders to improve soil health and productivity, in different socio-economic contexts.