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We are made up of the same five elements – earth, water, fire, air and space – that constitute the Universe. We are the soil. We are the earth. What we do to the soil, we do to ourselves. And it is no accident that the words “humus” and “humans” have the same roots.

This ecological truth is forgotten in the dominant paradigm because it is based on eco-apartheid, the false idea that we are separate and independent of the earth and also because it defines soil as dead matter. If soil is dead to begin with, human action cannot destroy its life. It can only “improve” the soil with chemical fertilizers. And if we are the masters and conquerors of the soil, we determine the fate of the soil. Soil cannot determine our fate.

History, however, is witness to the fact that the fate of societies and civilizations is intimately connected to how we treat the soil – do we relate to the soil through the Law of Return or through the Law of Exploitation and Extraction.

The Law of Return – of giving back – has ensured that societies create and maintain fertile soil and can be supported by living soil over thousands of years. The Law of Exploitation – of taking without giving back – has led to the collapse of civilizations.

Contemporary societies across the world stand on the verge of collapse as soils are eroded, degraded, poisoned, buried under concrete and deprived of life. Industrial agriculture, based on a mechanistic paradigm and use of fossil fuels has created ignorance and blindness to the living processes that create a living soil. Instead of focusing on the Soil Food Web, it has been obsessed with external inputs of chemical fertilizers – what Sir Albert Howard called the NPK mentality. Biology and life have been replaced with chemistry.

External inputs and mechanization are imperative for monocultures. By exposing the soil to wind, sun and rain, monocultures expose the soil to erosion by wind and water.

 Soils with low organic matter are also most easily eroded, since organic matter creates, aggregates and binds the soil.

Soil is being lost at 10 to 40 times the rate at which it can be replenished naturally. This implies 30 per cent less food over the next 20-50 years. Soil erosion washes away soil nutrients. A tonne of top soil averages 1-6 kg of nitrogen, 1-3 kg of phosphorous, 2-30 kg of potassium, whereas soil in eroded land has only 0.1-0.5 per cent nitrogen. The cost of these nutrient losses are $20 billion annually.

 Fertile soils contain 100 tonnes of organic matter per ha. Reduction of soil organic matter by 1.4-0.9 per cent lowers yield potential by 50 per cent. Chemical monocultures also make soils more vulnerable to drought and further contribute to food insecurity.