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Improved soil health essential for SDGs

A third of the Earth’s soil is degraded and something needs to be done about it – and fast, according to José Graziano da Silva, director-general at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

In a video message to the World Congress of Soil Science, da Silva suggested the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to zero hunger and combatting climate change won’t be met if there isn’t action to improve soil management.

“Soil degradation affects food production, causing hunger and malnutrition, amplifying food-price volatility, forcing land abandonment and involuntary migration, leading millions into poverty,” he said.

He also noted how soils act as filters for contaminants, preventing their entry into the food chain and reaching water bodies such as rivers, lakes, seas and oceans, but that this potential is limited when contamination exceeds the capacity of soils to cope with pollution.

Soil degradation costs the economy of England and Wales £1.2 billion every year. The Agriculture Bill, due to be published later this year, will reportedly include measures and targets to preserve and improve the health of the UK’s soils. “It has taken a long time but I think we have turned the corner on getting soil on the political agenda,” said Rebecca Pow, parliamentary private secretary to environment ministers, in an interview with the Guardian in March.