Soils as Keystone for Food Security and Ecosystem Restoration

Soils as Keystone for Food Security and Ecosystem Restoration will be held virtually as part of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Bonn Digital Conference 2020. The session, which will take place on 3 June 2020,will explore how to create an enabling environment for restoration activities, and will bring together representatives working on land restoration programmes, sustainable soil management, and rights-based land governance.

Discussing the role of smallholder farmers as central to promoting restoration activities, the event will have three distinct subsessions, addressing:

• Soils and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
• Soil Organic Carbon: How can smallholder farming communities benefit from carbon sequestration projects?
• “Measuring Progress” on Gender & Land Tenure

The subsession on Soils and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration will discuss the draft strategy of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the technical and political challenges to act upon it. Representatives will discuss ways to achieve inclusive ecosystem restoration, and debate focus areas to make ecosystem restoration happen and benefit those that are food insecure and the most vulnerable.

‘Soil Organic Carbon: How can smallholder farming communities benefit from carbon sequestration projects?’— the second subsession — will deliberate the ways in which soil organic carbon projects can benefit smallholder farming communities and reward them for their restoration activities. Among the issues addressed, panelists are expected to provide insights into REDD+ initiatives and discuss how these experiences can inform the design and implementation of soil organic carbon projects.

The third subsession, titled Measuring Progress” on Gender & Land Tenure, will present community-driven social innovations for the recognition of land rights of women in Kenya and Burkina Faso. Panelists will address how complementary instruments to land law can reduce the gender gap in land policy implementation and contribute to enhancing the food security of smallholder farming communities.

The event is organized by TMG Research, as part of its SEWOH Lab project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is taking place virtually as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

IISD, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, will provide a digital update and a summary report from the Soils as Keystone for Food Security and Ecosystem Restoration event.