Advancing soil health assessment and monitoring in the Global South: a flexible framework for enhancing food security and climate resilience in smallholder farming systems

Soil health is crucial for enhancing food security and climate resilience in smallholder farming systems in the Global South. However, while diverse stakeholders, including researchers, private sector, governments, NGOs, extension services, and farmers, share the common goal of restoring and enhancing soil health, they have different objectives and needs. They also operate at varying spatial and temporal scales. In the context of the Global South, a significant challenge lies in the lack of consensus on effective methods for assessing and monitoring soil health across diverse agroecological contexts and farming systems. This presentation will: 1) explore the needs and challenges of soil health assessment in the Global South, 2) propose an adaptable operational framework for soil health assessment and monitoring that accommodates diverse contexts and engages key stakeholders, and 3) outline actionable steps to advance the practical implementation of the framework, supporting transitions toward sustainable food systems. Key bottlenecks to address include the development and integration of methods for assessing physical, chemical, and specifically biological soil health indicators, with a focus on ensuring their suitability and accessibility for diverse users and contexts, as well as agronomic and environmental outcomes. Furthermore, pathways to accelerate the impact of soil health decision-making will be identified. The goal is to offer essential guidance to advance integrated soil health assessment and monitoring, supporting agricultural innovations that benefit and actively include smallholder farmers and decision-makers in the Global South.