9 September 2011: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) is calling for a renewed international effort to promote and assure healthy and fertile soils as a component of the new Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

At the three-day meeting held to launch the Partnership, which took place in Rome, Italy, from 7-9 September 2011, FAO highlighted the stresses to global soil fertility, including land degradation and competing land uses. FAO noted that 6.3 million hectares of farmland in Africa have lost fertility and must be regenerated to meet food needs over the coming years. The Global Soil Partnership will seek to: implement the 1982 World Soil Charter, adopted in 1982 by the FAO; motivate action on adaptation and mitigation by decision makers; provide technical expertise; and mobilize resources for joint activities and programmes. These actions will include both short-term interventions and rapid responses, as well as long-term large-scale measures to build greater resilience to degradation, drought and climate change. The Partnership will complement the Global Water Partnership. [UN Press Release] [FAO Press Release]