How to make soil appeal to donors

The earth's soil is under threat. Some 33 percent of it is moderately to highly degraded worldwide, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Soil is the basis of much of the world's food production, delivering nutrients to plants and crops, and playing its part in cleaning the water we drink — but erosion, salinization, nutrient depletion, acidification, chemical pollution, population growth and the pressure of competing uses like agriculture, energy and urbanization are all contributing to threaten this crucial resource. What’s the key then to reversing this trend? Boosting sustainable soil management practices. The Global Soil Partnership, whose general assembly convened last week in Rome to approve a series of action plans to fight against soil degradation, advocates for global sustainable soil management, which includes a wide range of activities like practices to protect soil from water runoff, responsible use of treatments for pest control or maintenance of organic matter found in soil. Turning the action plans into concrete field programs is the next challenge for the GSP, established in 2011 as the first initiative that brings together governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, including universities, research centers, NGOs, private companies and farmers' associations to discuss solutions for addressing soil degradation, sharing knowledge and facilitating collaboration among the actors on the ground. Long-term impact Raising funds for soil hasn't ever been easy, however, according to Ronald Vargas, a soils and land management officer at FAO who is leading the implementation of the partnership. This, he told Devex, was because the importance of soil is not yet widely recognized and the fact that while policy makers and donors often want quick results, soil interventions often take time to show an impact. "If you say you will get results in 20 years, nobody will give you even one dollar," Vargas said. To address this, he explained how the GSP has envisioned a multistage approach for the implementation of the action plans, which includes long-term goals and activities that provide immediate results in the short term. For instance, reversing soil degradation is a long process, but it is possible to get immediate results by setting up terraces that mitigate the effect of erosion. So how can soil be made more attractive to donors and investors? By translating high-level decisions into concrete actions that deliver results — not only in the long term, but also in the short term, Vargas noted. "We don't want to [do] a normative work. We develop policy ... [and] that's fundamental, but then we want to report every year how many hectares of soil are now under sustainable soil management practices; how many hectares have been restored or rehabilitated. If we report that, then we can have credibility," Vargas said. Taking action for healthy soil The GSP assembly approved four action plans that include many recommendations to promote sustainable management of soil resources for soil protection, conservation and sustainable productivity; encourage investment, technical cooperation, education, awareness and extension; enhance the quantity and quality of soil data and information; and harmonize methods for gathering and exchanging information. These plans, however, now have to be translated into programs and projects. "These global plans of actions are the framework ... They are very global recommendations. Now we need to go into the details on the specific activities we are going to do, how much they will cost, who will be [involved] in that," Vargas said. Expected to lead to a large volume of concrete in-country activities, the expert said they will likely also include global initiatives such as a global soil information system and a capacity development program. Moving from theory to practice But who will design and implement the programs in practice, especially on procurement? "That's our crucial point," Vargas said. "The leadership in implementing technically and scientifically in the field is from the regional global soil partnerships." The GSP, which currently has about 200 members and receives new applications on a daily basis, has established regional partnerships that draw together governments and local stakeholders. These will have the task of drafting the implementation plans and then put them into practice, even if the secretariat — hosted by FAO — will give the final approval. The initiative will also accelerate the process of implementation through its Healthy Soil Facility, a tool established for mobilizing resources, including various trust funds and financing modalities to fit with the full spectrum of donor types. Some regional partnerships, already in place in most of regions except the Pacific and North America, have already started to work on a list of priority actions. "The idea is that by the end of the year we could already have [all] the regional implementation plans," Vargas said. Although it is too early to say what programs will be implemented, the FAO official shared some insights into the most urgent actions. The key issue to be addressed, he said, will be soil degradation in its various forms: soil salinity in Eurasia and the Near East, soil erosion in Central America, and soil nutrient decline in Africa. Vargas also cited capacity development as one of the principle components to promote sustainable soil management: "We need to train, we need to exchange with the soil users, especially farmers ... on how best to manage their soils." A program developed by Thailand's land development department, called "Dr Soils," is a good example of what GSP would like to roll out. The program helps soil users make a diagnosis on soil conditions and then implement the right solution. "We would like to expand that program [since] it worked very well in countries or regions where extension services are very poor, don't work very well, or do not exist," Vargas said. Making the investment "Without substantial external resources, it would be impossible to have satisfactory implementation of the agreed plans of action," a GSP document stresses. Indeed, the initiative has not so far been able to raise the necessary funds so far, but Vargas remains optimistic: "Donors have told us they want to support actions but do not want to support normative work." And last week's endorsement is key. "We will immediately move [forward] in the implementation and we will submit the implementation plans [to donors]," the expert said. While many donors were waiting for the action plans before deciding whether or not to invest, the European Union has already provided 1 million euros ($1.34 million) of extra-budgetary contributions in December 2013. However, according to the FAO official, it’s still too early to provide figures on the resources necessary for GSP to put the plans into practice. And cash won't be the only way to contribute, Vargas said. "We are not talking only about financial resources, we are talking also about human talent, expertise or other type of activities," he explained. In-kind contributions could include, for instance, donors making their staff members available to work on implementing the plans, participating at meetings, providing expertise in developing programs, or organizing workshops or conferences. The partnership is growing and open to contributions from any stakeholder. In the months ahead, the GSP secretariat has the task of identifying potential partners with comparative advantages in soil, although organizations interested in playing their part are encouraged to contact the secretariat directly. "We will never say no ... There's a lot of work to do [and] in this partnership there is room for everyone to see where they can contribute," Vargas said. 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