European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to cooperate on soil health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa

Today at COP28, following a meeting between the Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Bill Gates, the European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced they will cooperate to improve soil health and support farmers’ livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.

More than 60% of soils in the EU and in sub-Saharan Africa are considered to be unhealthy. Without healthy soils, neither global food security nor effective action on climate change can be ensured.  The European Commission has proposed a new legal framework on soil monitoring and resilience and intensified its action under the Horizon Europe R&I Mission “a Soil Deal for Europe”. The European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide a substantial financial contribution to support and advance the priorities of the Mission, with a focus on Africa.

The European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation agree on the urgency to act. Today’s announcement is rooted in the shared belief that improving soil health is critical to tackle climate change, and shared common objectives to improve soil health and farmer livelihoods in Europe and beyond. The cooperation will look to ensure that farmers in sub-Saharan Africa can better maintain and protect their soils.

The European Commission will expand its activity assessing and addressing soil health in other parts of the world, based on scientific and technological advances made in the EU under the Mission Soil. Both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the European Commission will invest through their respective programmes and coordinate their action to spur research and innovation to expand soil knowledge at scale, for example through the improvement of soil mapping and soil biodiversity in Africa. The foundation can also provide access to technical assistance for African research institutions to apply for funding under the EU Soil Mission. The European Commission’s investments will be designed to create synergies and leverage opportunities with other EU projects.

By increasing funding around a targeted challenge, the European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will achieve greater impact for more sustainable natural resources management, biodiversity and agricultural productivity.

Maroš Šefčovič, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission

Soil health is central to combat climate change worldwide. With adequate funding, the transition towards sustainability is possible. The cooperation between the European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today shows that the public and private sectors can work in synergy to face major societal challenges such as the protection and restoration of soils.

Bill Gates, Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Farmers are increasingly under pressure due to climate change, and they need better information and new tools to adapt. Soil health is crucial to growing crops that feed the planet and support livelihoods – yet we have major knowledge gaps. I welcome the EU’s leadership on investing in healthy soils that will benefit farmers, most importantly in the world’s poorest communities who have done the least to contribute to climate change.

Background

Soils are globally threatened.

The situation is critical in Sub-Saharan Africa where it is estimated that 65% of agricultural soil is degraded and more than 60% of the population depend on agriculture for food and income, putting livelihoods at risk.

To improve the status of soils to continue to deliver vital services, the European Commission is scaling up solutions to deliver tangible results. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is investing in innovation in agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to support smallholder farmers.

Cooperating with Africa on soil health is a priority area for the European Union and cooperation through the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (Mission Soil) has the potential to drive change towards sustainable land management practices in Europe and Africa. This cooperation follows up on the Commission’s call to boost collaboration with the private sector, including philanthropic organizations, to implement the objectives of EU Missions stated in the 2023 Commission Communication ‘EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and way forward’ (COM/2023/457 final)

Conserving and increasing soil organic carbon stocks​, reducing soil pollution and restoring contaminated soils, enhancing the soil structure for the benefit of biodiversity​, as well as improving soil literacy in society are the key areas for this collaboration.