The RECSOIL initiative was launched in December 2019 by FAO and its Global Soil Partnership (GSP) to scale up the adoption of SSM practices, with a focus on sequestering and maintaining the stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) for the improvement of soil health. SOC serves as a critical indicator of soil productivity (Eze et. al, 2023) and is measured in RECSOIL to serve as a proxy for land restoration. Practices that sequester SOC provide multiple benefits, such as key ecosystem services, enhancing food security and farm income, reducing poverty and malnutrition, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. RECSOIL has successfully pilot projects in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Togo. These pilot projects have engaged farmers to develop solutions to their key soil health concerns while connecting farmers to resources to implement sustainable practices. Through these initial projects, 127 farmers across 890 hectares could sequester approximately 1077 tons of greenhouse gases in CO2 equivalence annually. Not only are farmers mitigating climate change, but building resilience to climate shocks, improving the condition of their soils and food, and bolstering livelihoods for themselves and their communities through improved soil management.

Funding: To advance RECSOIL across the globe and empower farmers to increase food security and improve soil health, we are seeking to partner with organizations motivated to promote the transition to sustainable soil management.

Beyond pilot projects in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Togo, activities are under development or initiating in Ghana, Morocco, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. To effectively scale the project, RECSOIL relies on a set of tools and protocols that add structure and standardization to RECSOIL project implementation yet remain adaptable to local conditions. Priority areas of implementation are selected using the Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential (GSOCseq) map and atlas of Global Change Issues, selecting sites with high SOC sequestration potential and convergence of global issues. These tools can be used to select priority countries of implementation, or pinpoint target regions for scale-up within a country. Once an implementation region is selected, RECSOIL then emphasizes the importance of establishing a project governance structure with parties who can provide insight into local soil threats and relevant practices, and also facilitate the scaling of RECSOIL to other regions. The evaluation of the impact of SSM practices in RECSOIL is guided by the “Protocol for the assessment of Sustainable Soil Management” (SSM Protocol) and “A protocol for measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes” (GSOC-MRV Protocol). These protocols give clear indicators and a replicable method by which to assess soil health. The EX-Ante carbon Balance Tool (EX-ACT) complements these protocols by providing a clear, replicable method for estimating GHG emissions reduced through the project. Trainings to implement and upscale RECSOIL are provided by the GSP in each pilot region. The RECSOIL team provides training on how to develop sampling strategies and collect and analyse data according to SSM and GSOC-MRV protocols. The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) builds capacities of participating soil laboratories to ensure soil analysis procedures are standardized and harmonized, making results both accurate and comparable across projects. The Global Soil Doctors Programme, a farmer-to-farmer training program focused on soil management, empowers leading farmers to train other farmers on the implementation of SSM practices for current and future RECSOIL project cycles. The RECSOIL initiative provides a full set of tools and protocols by which pilot projects can upscale RECSOIL implementation, as well as providing a format by which RECSOIL can be adopted in different countries.

In RECSOIL, farmers (particularly smallholder farmers) constitute the main agents of change. Through financial incentives and technical support, farmers will be equipped to implement good practices on the ground. Investment in SOC sequestration presents a key opportunity for various stakeholders to participate, including extension agencies, farmer cooperatives, government representatives, and more. The RECSOIL programme is supported by a toolkit that includes a robust monitoring programme to ensure that the implementation of SSM practices leads to improved soil health over time.

The RECSOIL initiative helps materialize a healthier future for soils and communities through fostering connections between farmers, soil institutions and national stakeholders to scale sustainable soil management (SSM). The impact of these SSM practices on soil health is carefully monitored over time. Regular feedback workshops held with producers participating in pilot projects are also conducted to ensure that the SSM practices implemented through the project address farmers’ concerns and improve soil health and productivity year after year, shaping a future of healthy soils that support the livelihoods and nutrition of those who depend on them.

Furthermore, the active engagement of a wide variety of stakeholders from the inception of each RECSOIL pilot project ensures collaboration to address factors threatening soil health. Identifying the soil threats affecting the area and selecting appropriate SSM interventions requires knowledge of the local context, land management history, relevant crops, and specific soil and climactic conditions. To achieve this context-specific application of SSM, RECSOIL engages government representatives, farmers’ associations, agronomy and soil experts, extensionists, soil laboratories, and other local stakeholders who help facilitate project activities and data collection.

https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/areas-of-work/recsoil/recsoil-home/en/

https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1677332/
https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1680243/