Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
“benefits people obtain from ecosystems” (MA 2005). Linking soils with soil secu-
rity and ecosystem services is important as it avoids an inward-looking approach that
tends to be common in many disciplines, soil science not excluded, and supports the
views of Robinson et al. (2012).
In summary, the objective of this chapter is to (i) describe soil conditions in some
selected smallholder farms in both developed and developing countries, expressed in
terms of ecosystem services provided and, in turn, soil security, and (ii) explore ways
in which soil security can be maintained or increased in the future, focusing in the
context of this chapter on use of fertilizers, as mentioned by IFAD (2012) as one of
three soil-related measures to alleviate problems of small-scale agriculture.
2.2
MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.2.1 S
oil
S
ecurity
c
oncePt
Soil security has been defined in analogy with food security, which aims at the long-
term sustainable production of sufficient quantities of food, providing a permanent
feeling of security to world citizens. This implies, however, much more than striving
for a higher production as such, as many socioeconomic, institutional, and ethical
aspects also play a key role. The World Health Organization defines three aspects of
food security: food availability, food access, and food use. Food availability refers to
having available sufficient quantities of food. Food access refers to having sufficient
resources, both economic and physical, to obtain appropriate food for a nutritious
diet. Food use is the appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care.
These elements are also visible in the 1996 World Food Summit definition: “Food
security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food prefer-
ences for an active and healthy life.”
The security concept is more complicated when applied to soils. Rather than
relate to a sustainable, daily need in terms of food intake, soil security relates to
what might happen if soils degrade to the extent that sufficient food production is
not feasible anymore. Soil degradation is a long-term process, very much related to
varying socioeconomic conditions. Except for erosion, its effects are often gradual
and difficult to communicate and translate into environmental and economic values.
However, when soils degrade to the extent that they cannot anymore provide certain
ecosystem services, of which food production is only one provisioning service, the
consequences for society are devastating. To mitigate degraded soils is very difficult
and even impossible when soil has been removed by erosion. The challenge, there-
fore, is to create early awareness about the dangers of soil degradation that may, in
the end, terminate many ecosystem services the soil can provide (e.g., Vlek et al.
2008; Desire project,
www.desire-project.eu).
Considering the relevance of soils only in broad terms of soil conservation prac-
tices, fertilization and irrigation (IFAD 2012) ignores the inherent properties and
potentials of any given type of soil, which are different in different parts of the world.
For example, a relatively nutrient-rich clayey Nitosol in Africa has a higher potential
to provide soil-related ecosystem services than a nutrient-poor Ferralsol, let alone a
