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Open Access CC BY V4.0
Journal article
Measuring what matters: soil health as the missing metric in climate-smart agriculture monitoring
Frontiers in sustainable food systems, Vol.10, p.1814366
06/16/2026
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.
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- Title
- Measuring what matters: soil health as the missing metric in climate-smart agriculture monitoring
- Creators
- Leigh Winowiecki - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaAida Bargues-Tobella - Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesRomy Chevallier - South African Institute of International AffairsHanna Linden - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaSabrina Trautman - Camber Collective (United States)Djalal Arinloye Ademonla - CIFOR ICRAF, Cotonou, BeninJules Bayala - CIFOR ICRAF, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoRobin Chacha - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaJacqueline Hannam - Natural Resources InstituteAnthony Kimaro - CIFOR ICRAF, Dar Es Salaam, TanzaniaLukelysia Mwangi - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaIsaac Betserai Nyoka - CIFOR ICRAF, CIFOR ICRAF, Lilongwe, MalawiLuke Ouko - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaZampela Pittaki - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaSieglinde Snapp - Washington State UniversityZachary Stewart - IFDC, MUSCLE SHOALS, AL USABertin Takousing - CIFOR ICRAF, Yaounde, CameroonTor-Gunnar Vagen - CIFOR ICRAF, Nairobi, KenyaRattan Lal - The Ohio State University
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in sustainable food systems, Vol.10, p.1814366
- Academic Unit
- College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media Sa
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- 301495 / Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) through the UK's International Climate Finance 2023-00307 / Formas -the Swedish Research Council; Swedish Research Council Formas UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) - UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) NORAD; CGIAR
- Identifiers
- 99901398985301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article