More than 95 percent of global food production depends on soil, yet soil health remains insufficiently measured in many climate-smart agriculture (CSA) programmes. Published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems in June 2026, this perspective argues that monitoring the adoption of practices and technologies is not enough to determine whether CSA is delivering its intended outcomes for productivity, climate adaptation and mitigation. The authors propose soil health as an integrating metric linking water regulation, nutrient cycling, carbon storage, biodiversity and resilience.

The article calls for systematic, outcome-based monitoring alongside indicators such as hectares under CSA practices or numbers of participating farmers. It highlights the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF), implemented in more than 45 countries across the global tropics, as an example of standardized, georeferenced monitoring. Evidence from Makueni County, Kenya, illustrates its application: soil erosion was observed in about 66 percent of surveyed cropland plots, while soil organic carbon was substantially lower in croplands than in woodlands.

The authors recommend embedding soil indicators within agricultural extension, national statistics and environmental reporting, while strengthening long-term monitoring infrastructure. Greater alignment with Nationally Determined Contributions, land degradation targets and biodiversity strategies could also improve coherence across policy agendas. Such monitoring, they argue, would allow governments and funders to assess verified environmental outcomes and better target climate and restoration investments.