About one‑third of the world’s agricultural land is at risk of losing its fertility and turning into desert because of climate change and excessive use of chemical fertilizers.
In May 2026 the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announced the Global Soil Health Initiative 2026. The main goal of this global effort is to restore the health of 100 million hectares of degraded soil worldwide by 2030.
Soil degradation and the global food crisis: Soil is alive and contains billions of microorganisms and microbiomes that supply nutrients to plants. Intensive farming and plastic pollution are killing these beneficial microbes in the soil.
As a result, crop nutritional value is declining and a new threat to global food security is emerging. Desertification has become severe in parts of sub‑Saharan Africa and some regions of Asia.
Global strategy for 2026: The UN initiative emphasizes three main strategies to restore soil health:
- Regenerative agriculture: Increase soil carbon storage by using organic fertilizers, compost, and cover crops instead of chemical fertilizers.
- Use of microbial technologies: Artificially introduce nitrogen‑fixing bacteria and beneficial fungi (mycorrhizae) into soils to naturally enhance fertility.
- Plastic‑free soil laws: Enact strict international regulations to prevent the entry of mulching films and plastic particles into agricultural soils.
Healthy soil is essential for a healthy human civilization. For the 2026 global movement to succeed, developed countries must provide farmers in developing countries with modern bio‑technologies, training in sustainable farming, and financial support.
