Earth Day 2021: Understanding the role of gender in building healthier soils
- From
-
Published on
22.04.21
- Impact Area

Maintaining healthy soils is crucial to long-term agricultural sustainability and food security – yet soils face major stresses worldwide. In 2015, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils rated one third of land worldwide as moderately to highly degraded. The impacts are especially serious in Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia, where smallholder farmers must contend with the challenges posed by growing populations and nutrient-depleted soils.
Who protects the soil? As we observe Earth Day 2021 (April 22) we must consider who the soil managers are, what guides their actions, and what resources they have to work with. In particular, gender plays a crucial role in the way soil is managed because it shapes knowledge, perceptions, preferences, and use of assets…
Photo Credit: K. Stefanova/USAID
Related news
-
Women-led cooperatives and seed entrepreneurs drive seed innovation in Nepal
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)25.04.25-
Gender equality
By Prem Raj Bhatt, Mosharaf Hossain, Swati Nayak, Rabin Kushma Tharu, Jitendra Sah With women-led…
Read more -
-
ICRISAT celebrates World IP Day, forging new partnership with BITS Pilani
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)25.04.25-
Environmental health
-
Environmental health & biodiversity
In the lead-up to World Intellectual Property Day (26 April), the International Crops Research Ins…
Read more -
-
International Girls in ICT Day 2025: How advancing inclusive ICT is reducing the gender technology gap
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)24.04.25-
Gender equality
Ankita Tiwari* and Dr. Shalini Gakhar** Despite continuous advancements in agricultural technologies…
Read more -