Towards healthy soils in the Near East and North Africa region

Soils are the basis on which 95% of food is produced. Soil degradation is a serious threat in all countries of the Near East and North African (NENA) region and a major constraint to reliable food production. Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt are the countries most affected by soil degradation in croplands while other countries face problems of land degradation in general (FAO, 2004). The main threats to the soil’s capacity to provide ecosystem services in most of the NENA countries are salinization, water and wind erosion, loss of vegetation cover and soil organic carbon, soil pollution by excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides, soil physical degradation (including compaction and surface crusting) and urbanization. Sustainable soil management can contribute to addressing the challenge of water scarcity in the region by storing and filtering water.

In 2012, the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) of FAO recognized the need to preserve soil resources in NENA and established the NENA Soil Partnership to facilitate knowledge and data sharing, overcome the challenges of food security, increased carbon sequestration, address land degradation, and encourage environment protection and sustainable soil management practices to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate. In this regard, the partnership enhances collaboration between national stakeholders on soils and member countries in the region. National needs and priorities are translated into regional actions through the NENA implementation plan, which is revised yearly at the NENA plenary meetings.

In 2013, the 21st summit of African leaders urged member states to place land degradation at the center of the debate on the post-2015 development agenda. Member states acknowledged the importance of soil in the agricultural sector, which contributes about 10 percent of the region’s GDP, but is characterized by an exceptionally fragile and vulnerable resource base. The first Joint Meeting of Arab Ministers of Agriculture and Water organized in Cairo 4th of April 2019 called for “Establishing a sustainable regional mechanism to build individual and institutional capacities necessary to plan, design, and implement water and land management programs efficiently”.

In 2020, the FAO office for the Near East and North Africa financially supported the implementation of a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project on “Capacity development for the sustainable management of soil resources in the NENA region to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” (see Annex I). The TCP project results showed the need to take urgent, coordinated actions on soil protection and soil legislation at the national and regional level. Because of the commonalities between the ten beneficiary countries in the project, the FAO and the Sultanate of Oman are proposing the generation of a regional declaration on soil, the “Muscat Declaration on Sustainable Soil Management in the NENA region”. The Declaration will constitute an important instrument to stimulate national awareness and translate project findings into concrete actions towards healthy soils in the region.

By pairing the event with the 8th NENA Soil Partnership meeting, representatives from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Palestine will also be present on 7 and 8 March 2023 and will have the opportunity to subscribe the declaration.

This regional event on soil health aims to:

1. Raise awareness on the importance of soils in the NENA region;
2. Present the status of soils in the NENA region, with a focus on identifying regional priorities and needs, and to define regional actions to take;
3. Endorse the “Muscat Declaration on Sustainable Soil Management in the NENA region”;
4. Improve partnership and cooperation between countries and regional stakeholders; and
5. Explore financial resource mobilization opportunities in support of sustainable soil management.

Format of the event

The event will last two days with the first day dedicated to the endorsement of the Declaration, and the second day dedicated to the NENA Soil Partnership meeting in which countries will be invited to review the progress made in advancing sustainable soil management in the region and plan the way forward towards 2030  (see draft agenda attached).

The event will be in hybrid format in order to ensure the participation of as many countries and stakeholders as possible in the region. The Minister of Agriculture of the Sultanate of Oman. the Assistant Director General of FAORNE and the head of the League of Arab States will open the event that will be moderated by FAO Oman.

The Ministers of Agriculture of NENA Soil partnership member countries will be invited to designate their senior representatives who can attend virtually or in person. Same goes to the financial resource partners and FAO’s technical support partners in the region. The national coordinators of the TCP RAB 3802 project will also be given the possibility to attend the meeting in person, should the project budget allow. National focal points and partners to the GSP in the NENA region will attend in person or virtually subject to the availability of financial resources.

Expected outcomes

By engaging with the government representatives of all countries in the region, the event is expected to lead to the endorsement of the “Muscat Declaration on Sustainable Soil Management in the NENA region” that will constitute an important instrument to stimulate national awareness and translate into concrete actions towards healthy soils in the region. Ultimately, the event will be successful in reviewing individual countries’ progresses on sustainable soil management and in planning the way forward towards 2030 through the 8^th NENA Soil Partnership meeting.

By raising awareness on soil, granting political support to sustainable soil management and by defining concrete actions on soil to implement at the country and regional level, the event is also expected to stimulate the interest of financial support partners to invest in preserving and improving soil resources in the region.