We cannot live without healthy soil and land. It is on these resources that we produce most of our food and build our homes. We need them to provide clean water and precious plant nutrients, to conserve biological diversity and to cope with climate change. And they form the basis for the livelihoods of millions of people. But despite such known facts, these valuable resources are in a dire state. A third of all soils world-wide are already degraded, and each year, further huge expanses of fertile land go lost.

We know that the only way to reverse this trend is with a paradigm shift – away from a resource-intensive mode of production and towards a resource-friendly mode considering the planetary boundaries while placing our global agricultural and food systems on sustainable foundations. Our authors and interview partners share examples of global and national initiatives and policies as well as research insights and practical examples addressing this topic with you.
From the issue 2/2022
Focus
Returning land to nature
Facts and figures on land and soil
Soil organisms for healthy soil and sustainable agriculture
"The private sector is keen to invest in soil"
"We are helping family farms to adapt to climate change"
"Sustainable soil management can be adopted by any and all Brazilian producers"
How investing in soil-related inputs and services pays off
"Preserving and restoring fertile soils is a global responsibility"
Building land and drought resilience – UNCCD’s work
WOCAT – spreading sustainable land management world-wide
Highlighting the true value of land
The Great Green Wall – Africa’s green world wonder?
"More cohesion across existing frameworks is desperately needed"
Ten years of VGGT – a stocktaking
The SDG Land Tracker – easy access to land-related indicators
Little change in land governance practice
Opinion
Food security is more than production volumes and high yields
Scientific World
Biochar – a soil enhancer for (nearly) all cases
Towards more sustainability in integrated mangrove systems
International Platform
Putting gender upfront in vaccine delivery systems
Machinery rings – an innovative approach to mechanising Kenyan agriculture

About Rural 21
The international journal Rural 21 has dedicated more than 50 years to all topics surrounding rural development. Its ambition is to further those strategies and policies that strengthen rural areas of developing and newly industrialising countries and encourage their implementation. The journal addresses the complete range of relevant themes – from agriculture and fisheries via capacity building and education through to health and social security, energy supply and trade. Center-stage is always devoted to inquiring into how measures and strategies can contribute to global food security and to reducing poverty.

Rural 21 desires to further the dialogue between science and politics, the private sector, civil society and practitioners. Two platforms are designed for this purpose: Rural 21 in print is published four times a year, each issue highlighting a specific focus of rural development – this print edition is read in more than 150 countries. In parallel, Rural 21 online keeps the rural development community up to date on news and events, scientific findings and other print and online publications.

Rural 21 is published by DLG-Verlag GmbH in Frankfurt/Germany. Financial partners are BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), DLG (German Agricultural Society – Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft), SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) and Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation.

The first issue of Rural 21 dates back to 1967. From 1974 to 2007, the journal was published in three languages entitled „entwicklung & ländlicher raum“ / „agriculture & rural development“ / „agriculture & développement rural“. In 2008, the journal was relaunched as „Rural 21“.