EDITORIAL > SOILS FOR LIFE
Soils – the roots of
agroecology and
family farming
Healthy soils contribute to resilient food production. Soil carbon is a key to healthy soils but, today we see the long-term consequences of agricultural management that has neglected soil carbon – degraded soils, polluted waters, and unprecedented rates of hunger and malnutrition. There are good examples of agroecological practices that were developed by farmers who have long known the importance of soil carbon. Yet, in many cases these practices are being re-learnt, adapted and new practices are being developed to reconnect with the soil and rebuild soil carbon. This issue of Farming Matters explores and celebrates such old and new practices for living soils. ILEIA Team
“S
oils constitute the foundation for agricultural development, essential ecosystem functions and food security and hence are key to sustaining life on Earth.” With these words, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 2015 the International Year of Soils (IYS). This turns our attention to a crucial resource that sustains farming, and life, but which has been very much neglected in dominant agricultural thinking and doing. But reviving soils and building our collective knowledge on soil health can only be effective if carried out in close collaboration with the 500 million farming families who are important custodians of the world’s soil. The IYS therefore builds rather seamlessly on the 2014 International Year of Family Farming. Healthy soils contribute greatly to more resilient farming systems and the livelihoods of farming communities. And soil organic matter is key, and thus the cornerstone for sustainable food production everywhere. Most family farmers have always known this. They have developed successful agroecological strategies to increase organic matter in their soils using fallows, extended fallows, cover crops, green manures,
6 | Farming Matters | March 2015
Photo: Francisco Nogueira