Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – 28 - 29 October 2025

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MoFALI) of Mongolia and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of the People's Republic of China, officially launched the project “Capacity Development on Sustainable Soil Management in the Global South.” The initiative aims to strengthen Mongolia’s technical capacity in sustainable soil management and contribute to global efforts to protect and restore agricultural lands and soils.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Ministries in charge of Agriculture across Central America, Africa, is implementing the SoilFER Programme “Soil Mapping for Resilient Agrifood Systems”. Launched in 2023 in Guatemala, Honduras, Zambia, SoilFER has quickly expanded to include Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Tunisia in 2024, reflecting global demand for reliable soil data and sustainable soil management for sustainable food production and livelihoods.

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From 11 to 13 September 2025, a  Global Conference on Scientific Utilization and Development of Saline Soil and the Fourth Meeting of the International Network of Salt‑affected Soils (INSAS) took place in Dunhuang, China, under the theme “Science, policy and practice for the sustainable management of salt-affected soils.” The event brought together 180 scholars, experts and business representatives from 13 countries (in person) and over 200 participants from 61 countries (online). The gathering reaffirmed INSAS as the main global platform for knowledge exchange and cooperation in tackling one of the world’s most pressing soil challenges: salinity and sodicity, which together affect over 1.38 billion hectares of land – 10.7 percent of the Earth’s surface – threatening agricultural productivity, water resources and food security.

Last week, Panama City hosted the 27th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-27) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The meeting set the stage for the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP30) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025, and COP17 of the CBD in Armenia in 2026, understanding that biodiversity conservation and protection is essential to climate resilience, ecosystems health and human well-being. 

FAO has launched a new project in Zimbabwe aimed at improving sustainable soil management. The project, “Capacity Development on Sustainable Soil Management in the Global South” seeks to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enhance national expertise in soil mapping, testing and data-driven management and promote technical collaboration among developing countries through South–South cooperation. The project also includes Cambodia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.