Rural 21 (engl. Ausgabe 2/2022)

Focus 2/2022: Healthy soil – healthy people – healthy planet

We cannot live without healthy soil and land. It is on these resources that we produce most of our food and build our homes. We need them to provide clean water and precious plant nutrients, to conserve biological diversity and to cope with climate change. And they form the basis for the livelihoods of millions of people. But despite such known facts, these valuable resources are in a dire state. A third of all soils world-wide are already degraded, and each year, further huge expanses of fertile land go lost.

We know that the only way to reverse this trend is with a paradigm shift – away from a resource-intensive mode of production and towards a resource-friendly mode considering the planetary boundaries while placing our global agricultural and food systems on sustainable foundations. Our authors and interview partners share examples of global and national initiatives and policies as well as research insights and practical examples addressing this topic with you.