A renewed international effort to assure sufficient fertile and healthy soils is critical to address problems related to soil resources and land degradation that is threatening food security. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf made this call during the meeting to launch a new Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

"Soil is an essential component of the world's production systems and ecosystems," Diouf said. "But it is also a fragile and non-renewable resource. It is very easily degraded and it is slow, difficult and expensive to regenerate," he added.

The Global Soil Partnership hopes to "raise awareness and motivate action by decision-makers on the importance of soils for food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation." It also aims to provide a favorable policy environment for soil protection and management and help mobilize resources for joint activities. This latest effort will complement the 15-year-old Global Water Partnership initiated by the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank to coordinate the development and management of water, land, and related resources.

See the FAO media release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/89277/icode/