The Place of Soil in International Government Policy.

Australia has recently negotiated new bilateral trade agreements with China, Korea and Japan, paving the way for a new ‘golden age of agriculture in the Asian century’ and an aspiration to double the value of rural exports by 2030. Such a massive productivity lift must be done with soil security in the frame, in order to avoid detrimental consequences to the soil.

 Australia’s foreign aid program is informed by an “Aid for Trade” initiative, with a  target of increasing A4T to 20 percent of the aid budget by 2020. Agriculture is a key sector for this aid, particularly through programs of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Soil features strongly at the project level, but not at the strategic level, and yet many of the strategic goals of developing countries in expanding their agriculture cannot be met cannot be met without securing soils.

Ensuring that the emerging international soil policy soil dialogue and actions, are translated into national agriculture practice, in both developed and developing economies, in an era of ever growing demand, is a key challenge.