Winowiecki, Leigh, Bargués-Tobella, Aida, Chevallier, Romy, Linden, Hanna, Trautman, Sabrina, Ademonla, Djalal Arinloye, Bayala, Jules, Chacha, Robin, Hannam, Jacqueline ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6661-3537, Kimaro, Anthony, Mwangi, Lukelysia, Nyoka, Isaac Betserai, Ouko, Luke, Pittaki, Zampela, Snapp, Sieglinde, Stewart, Zachary, Takousing, Bertin, Vågen, Tor-Gunnar and Lal, Rattan (2026) Measuring what matters: soil health as the missing metric in climate-smart agriculture monitoring. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 10:1814366. ISSN 2571-581X (Online) (doi:10.3389/fsufs.2026.1814366)

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Abstract

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has become a central framework for addressing the intersecting challenges of food security and climate change. Assessments of CSA have largely relied on measuring the adoption of practices and technologies rather than the ecological outcomes they are intended to deliver. This article argues that the absence of systematic soil health monitoring represents a critical measurement gap in CSA, limiting the ability to verify whether interventions genuinely enhance resilience, contribute to adaptation and mitigation, and sustain productivity. Drawing on two decades of research, we show that soil health underpins all three CSA objectives - adaptation, mitigation and productivity - through its role in regulating water availability, nutrient cycling, carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. We propose scaling outcome-based monitoring to complement practice-based monitoring, positioning soil health as an integrating metric that aligns climate, land degradation and biodiversity agendas. Standardized landscape monitoring approaches, including repeated georeferenced measurements of soil health indicators through frameworks such as the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF), demonstrate that operationalisation is feasible and can generate longitudinal datasets. The recent embedding of soil health indicators within multi-level policy frameworks and reporting systems signals political support for implementing consistent soil health monitoring frameworks. Strengthening soil monitoring infrastructure is therefore essential for improving accountability, informing implementation and enabling performance-based climate finance.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	soil monitoring, climate smart agriculture
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences Q Science > Q Science (General) S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 4 One Health Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 4 One Health > Ecosystems Services
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2026 07:41
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53827

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