5. Healthy soils for food security and nutrition
Physical and economic access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food
Nutrient content of the
food
10.2 12.0
27.2 19.0
4.6 9.8
6. Healthy soils for food security and nutrition
Depend on the availability of healthy and productive soils suitable for agriculture
In NENA, only 13.7 percent of the total agricultural land area is arable and the land per
capita is less than the world average of 0.23 ha
Soil degradation poses at even a greater risk food security and nutrition.
At present, about 73% of the cropland area in NENA (22 million) is estimated
to be degraded
The economic cost of land degradation in the NENA region is estimated at USD
9 billion per year
Actions should be taken to prevent the main threats to agricultural soils in the region from
happening:
- the accumulation of salts (salinization);
- the loss of soil by water and wind (erosion);
- the loss of vegetation cover and soil physical degradation (including compaction and
surface crusting)
- Urbanization, leading to the production of more food on less land
7. Soil health and water scarcity
NENA is the most arid region in the world. Availability of per capita renewable
freshwater is less than 10% of world average
BLUE WATER GREEN WATER
Importance of preserving and well managing the water resources available
Water in lakes, rivers, and
aquifers
Water coming from precipitation
that is stored in the unsaturated soil
Soil has the ability to absorb and store water. The speed by which water is
lost or used strongly depends on the proportions of clay, silt and sand in the
soil.
Whatever the soil type, the practice of sustainable soil management can
increase the soil’s water holding capacity. SOIL ORGANIC CARBON plays a
key role in the process
8. Investing in GREEN WATER can lower agricultural production costs and
sustainably increase production per unit of water consumed per unit of land
Soil management practices aimed to increase the
soil organic carbon content should be paired with
improved water management strategies
Soil health and water scarcity
9. Healthy soils for climate change mitigation
and adaptation
Most of the land area of the NENA region falls in the hyper-arid, arid and semi-arid
climatic zone.
• ¾ of arable land: less than 400mm of annual precipitation
• natural grazing lands: less than 200mm of rainfall per year
Climate change is expected
to exacerbate drought and
the scarcity of water
NENA is greatly affected by average
temperature change in comparison to
other global regions so that higher
climatic temperatures could lead to an
increase in evaporation by 25%
10. Healthy soils for climate change mitigation
and adaptation
The impact of climate change and its variability on crop growth and
yields is largely determined by its impact on soil health and the capacity
of crop varieties to adjust to changing climate and weather patterns
Climate change is fostered by carbon emissions
Soils are the largest terrestrial organic carbon reservoir and SOC in drylands
accounts for more than 1/3 of the global stock.
Preserving soils from degradation and increasing their
capacity to sequester carbon dioxide is pivotal!
11. Sustainable soil management to prevent
involuntary migration
Migration rates in 12 out of 20 NENA countries have increased significantly since
2010. High migration rates from non-conflict zone countries have been
influenced by environmental resource depletion or degradation
The impact of weather shocks on changing structural conditions, including
reduced agricultural yields due to poor soils and lack of water, has been proven
to contribute to permanent migration away from affected rural areas
Food price shocks and shortages can lead to conflict induced migration
Severe constraints on arable land and water, coupled with a growing population and
rising incomes, make the region inherently dependent on imports to meet rising
demand for food, particularly cereals.
Because food import rates and risks of domestic price shocks are intrinsically related,
dependency on cereal imports is especially risky.
12. Sustainable soil management to prevent
involuntary migration
How to act?
Investing in soil management strategies that incorporate support for
smallholder-farming operations will preserve agricultural resource stocks
while reducing rural migration rates.
Grant food growers the access
to essential knowledge of best
management practices and
essential inputs/equipment
13. Summary of recommendations
• Use internationally recognized tools like the Voluntary Guidelines for
Sustainable Soil Management (VGSSM) to formulate, revise and
implement policies and actions towards healthy soils for sustainable
agriculture and sustainable development;
• Create an enabling environment for promoting SSM by securing land
tenure, launching effective education programmes, strengthening
extension services, establishing national soil information systems, and
fostering international technical and scientific collaboration;
• Promote the wide use of SSM practices by farmers and other land
users through concrete and targeted government strategies;
• Ensure that SSM is included in the development/implementation of
integrated government investment strategies especially related to
water scarcity and climate change adaptation in the region.
This policy brief was written to raise awareness and trigger policy action on the added value of soil resources in the NENA region. Indeed, over time, great attention was given to other natural resources such as water but little was done to preserve and sustainably manage soils. Soils play such an important role role in the ecosystem and for human well-being to be included in the SDGs. Just to cite some of their functions, (read)
Attention is given to the role played by sustainable soil management in jointly ensuring food security and nutrition, prevent water scarcity, mitigate and adapt to climate change, and support poverty reduction, some of the main challenges the governments of NENA countries have to face at present
Source climate change map
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2293/nasa-releases-detailed-global-climate-change-projections/
First of all it is important to understand what food security and nutrition refer to (read)
Although the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of the region increased and the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) decreased since 1999, even non-conflict NENA countries still suffer from a high average prevalence of sever food insecurity. What is the role of soil in achieving food security and nutrition in NENA?
Among other factors, food security and nutrition depends on the availability of healthy and productive soils suitable for agriculture.
Because of extreme climatic conditions, in NENA, only 13.7 percent of the total agricultural land area is arable and the land per capita is less than the world average of 0.23 ha. Under these conditions, the risks posed by soil degradation to food security and nutrition are even greater. 73 % of the cropland area in NENA (22 million ha) is estimated to be degraded. The economic cost of land degradation in the NENA region is estimated at USD 9 billion per year
Main threats to agricultural soils are:
the accumulation of salts (salinization);
the loss of soil by water and wind (erosion);
the loss of vegetation cover and soil physical degradation (including compaction and surface crusting)
Urbanization, leading to the production of more food on less land
Because NENA is the most arid region in the world, it is important to preserve and well manage the water resources available. So far great attention was given the so called BLUE WATER but little was done on GREEN WATER.
Investing in GREEN WATER can lower agricultural production costs and sustainably increase production per unit of water consumed per unit of land
The soil organic carbon content can be increased by practicing sustainable soil management and by improving the overall water management of the field (link to irrigation)
SOC in drylands accounts for more than onethird of the global stock, mainly due to their large surface area and the fact that the soil is not degraded, rather than due to vegetation cover
Migration rates in 12 out of 20 NENA countries have increased significantly since 2010. High migration rates from non-conflict zone countries have been influenced by environmental resource depletion or degradation
Climate factors may account for between one-tenth and one-fifth of today’s level of migration, a rate that is expected to increase as our climate deteriorates.
The impact of weather shocks on changing structural conditions, including reduced agricultural yields due to poor soils and lack of water, has been proven to contribute to permanent migration away from affected rural areas
Severe constraints on arable land and water, coupled with a growing population and rising incomes, make the region inherently dependent on imports to meet rising demand for food, particularly cereals.
The NENA region is the largest grain importing region in the world.