FOOD AND

AGRICULTURE
ORGANIZATION
OF THE
UNITED NATIONS

ORGANISATION
DES NATIONS
UNIES POUR
LALIMENTATION
ET LAGRICULTURE

ORGANIZACION
DE LAS NACIONES
UNIDAS PARA
LA AGRICULTURA
Y LA ALIMENTACION

INTRODUCTION TO IYS - 2015

The 68th UN General Assembly declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils (IYS) (A/RES/68/232).
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) has been nominated to
implement the IYS 2015, within the framework of the Global Soil Partnership and in collaboration with
Governments and the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The Kingdom
of Thailand was the key promoter of the IYS.
FAOs vision of sustainable food and agriculture is a world in which nutritious food is accessible for all by
managing the natural resources such that they maintains ecosystem functions to support current and future
human needs.
The approach to socio-economically and environmentally sustainable food and agriculture is based on
improving efficiency and conserving/protecting/enhancing natural resources. This in addition to, protecting
rural livelihoods, enhancing resilience to climate change and market volatility, and good governance, for
healthy natural and happy human systems.
Healthy Living Soils have an important role in achieving this vision and approach to sustainable food and
agriculture.
Hence, the IYS-2015, aims to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soils for food
security and essential ecosystem functions for generations.
The specific objectives of the IYS 2015 are to:

Raise full awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound importance of soil
for human life;
Educate the public about the crucial role soil plays in food security, climate change adaptation and
mitigation, essential ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable development;
Support effective policies and actions for the sustainable management and protection of soil
resources;
Promote investment in sustainable soil management activities to develop and maintain healthy soils
for different land users and population groups;
Strengthen initiatives in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) process and
Post-2015 millennium agenda;
Advocate for rapid capacity enhancement for soil information collection and monitoring at all levels
(global, regional and national).

Being significant reservoirs of water and carbon and its sequestration, soils are the important foundation of
Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) to increase food security, build resilience and adaptation to climate
change, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions compared to expected trends.
The six key messages identified for dissemination in the international year of soils are:

Healthy soils are the basis for healthy food production.

Soils are the foundation for vegetation which is cultivated or managed for feed, fibre, fuel and
medicinal products.
Soils support our planet's biodiversity and they host a quarter of the total.
Soils help to combat and adapt to climate change by playing a key role in the carbon cycle.
Soils store and filter water, improving our resilience to floods and droughts.
Soil is a non-renewable resource; its preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable
future.

The first IYS - 2015 workshop in India, was held at Hyderabad (Southern Region) on June 5, 2015. The
second workshop is now being organized in Kolkata for Eastern Region on 20th August, 2015. The
FAO/UN, India, plans to organize four more one day regional workshops in 2015; namely for North-East
Region in Sikkim (28th September tentatively), for Western Himalayan Region in Almora (15th October), for
Western Region in Pune (12th November) and for Northern Region in New Delhi (5th December). This is
with a hope that the participants in turn will be able to sensitize their organizations and civil society around
them to build awareness for action to make soils healthier for sustainable food and agriculture for a happy
society and a healthy earth.
The International Day of Soil 2015, will be celebrated on December 5th, 2015 at New Delhi along with the
Northern Region workshop.