Soils are at the very base of our food production. Today, soils globally provide ample food for 7 billion people, but supplies are unevenly distributed: Against 1 billion underfed people there are over 1 billion obese. Since hunger is associated with poor soils, food security is addressed through soil amelioration. To feed 9 billion people by 2050, conventional practices will not suffice as we may run out of fertile soils.
The biodiversity in the soil below our feet represents around a quarter of all biodiversity on Earth. And what an incredible diversity it features!
Land degradation and its negative impact on soil quality is widespread. Processes such as erosion, pollution, salinisation, compaction or acidification threaten the delivery of ecosystem services which our life depends on.
Climate change is one of the key challenges of our time. Soil is the largest terrestrial carbon stock. Soil use and management can therefore have a direct effect on climate change by altering emissions of ‘greenhouse gases’ to the atmosphere.
Water is an essential component of the life support system we call 'soil'. Globally, two-thirds of all fresh water is held in soils as soil moisture.