Healthier soils require farmers.
According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), one third of the world’s soils are degraded, posing significant risks to ecosystems, biodiversity and climate resilience.
This World Soil Day, under the theme ‘Measure, Monitor and Manage’, we share how agri-food companies can take meaningful action to improve soil health and resilience at scale, together with their suppliers and farmers.
The path forward relies on farm-level insights, farmer involvement and effective tools.
Understanding the impact of farming practices.
To drive meaningful change, companies must first understand how the current farming practices used by farmers in their supply chains are impacting soil health.
Gaining this understanding requires more precision than what regional averages or proxy data can provide. Companies need “ground truths”; farm-level primary data that captures the nuanced realities of individual farms.
Soil types, fertilizer application rates, as well as tilling practices, vary significantly from farm to farm. Mapping out these differences holds the key to identifying impact hotspots and tailoring effective solutions to improve soil health.
Gathering this farm-level information establishes a reliable starting point, allowing companies to design targeted interventions that make a real difference.
Driving change through farmer collaboration.
Ultimately, farmers are the primary drivers of meaningful impact on soil health, and their involvement is critical to ensure success.
Close collaboration at every stage not only improves outcomes but also builds long-term trust between companies and farmers.
Using farm-level data as a foundation, companies should engage local suppliers and farmers to define and implement practices to implement collaboratively. Involving farmers early in the planning process ensures that interventions are feasible in practice and widely adopted.
Once implemented, ongoing monitoring with farm-level data allows companies to measure progress, track outcomes and adjust strategies as needed.
Empowering farmers and ensuring feedback loops.
Improving soil health is a long-term process, with benefits that often unfold gradually.
Practices like reduced tillage or limited fertilizer use may initially reduce yields, which can make farmers reluctant to adopt them.
Farmers need to understand the long-term benefits of sustainable soil practices: improved yields, lower input costs and greater resilience to climate challenges. Here, education can provide great support.
Equally important are feedback loops that provide farmers with insights into their performance. Seeing the impact of their efforts and comparisons to industry benchmarks reinforces the value of their work.
Financial incentives, such as premiums tied to applied practices, further encourage adoption and align goals across the value chain. Farmers who feel supported and see tangible benefits are more likely to champion change.
How Improvin’ can help.
Improvin’s Operating System supports companies in measuring, monitoring and managing their soil health initiatives.
By scaling data collection, simplifying data entry for farmers and enabling initiative implementation and tracking, the system supports every step of the process, while providing farmers with feedback loops.
With the right tools and collaboration, companies can empower farmers to adopt practices that build healthier soils and a more sustainable food system.
