The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) is a major international initiative with a vision ‘to improve global governance of the limited soil resources of the planet in order to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food secure world, as well as sustain other essential ecosystem services’. The Regional Soil Partnerships are to assist the GSP to move into concrete field action at regional, national and local levels through ‘Implementation Plans’.

The objective of this Soils Bulletin is to promote the use of locally available organic materials to increase soil organic matter content for improvement of soil fertility, and as a sources of plant nutrients in conjunction with mineral fertilizers. This manual is written for all those concerned with the maintenance and improvement of soil fertility, especially under tropical and subtropical conditions. It contains material for use in farmer training.

Material informativo por el Año Internacional de los Suelos (AIS 2015).

En 2050, la production alimentaire devra avoir augmenté de 70 pour cent environ dans le monde entier et de près de 100 pour cent dans les pays en développement. La demande supplémentaire en produits alimentaires, associée à la demande générée par les utilisations concurrentes, fera peser une pression sans précédent sur de nombreux systèmes de production agricole tout autour de la planète.

The share of agriculture in the GDP declined from 16 percent in the 1990s to almost 14 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, those employed in agriculture as a percent of total labor force is declining since 1960 to 2006. Despite losing labor and share of the GDP, agriculture is, and will continue to be, among the major economic activities in Egypt, and a generator for economic growth. The balance between agriculture and other productive sectors of the economy require proper spatial and land use planning. Land tenure is central to this planning exercise.

The share of agriculture in the GDP declined from 16 percent in the 1990s to almost 14 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, those employed in agriculture as a percent of total labor force is declining since 1960 to 2006. Despite losing labor and share of the GDP, agriculture is, and will continue to be, among the major economic activities in Egypt, and a generator for economic growth. The balance between agriculture and other productive sectors of the economy require proper spatial and land use planning. Land tenure is central to this planning exercise.

Healthy soils provide the largest store of terrestrial carbon. When managed sustainably, soils can play an important role in climate change mitigation by storing carbon (carbon sequestration) and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Conversely, if soils are managed poorly or cultivated through unsustainable agricultural practices, soil carbon can be released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), which can contribute to climate change.

The front of the postcard provides a short description on Soil contamination(definition, cause, key facts) while the back gives the worldwide conditions and trends by region. The data given here is derived from information published in the Status of the World's Soil Resources report, released in December 2015.

The Report and the Technical Summary are available at the links below:

Meeting symbol/code: CL 116 9