ITPS | 10th Working Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils. 13 - 17 May 2019 | FAO headquarters

1. Progress on Pillar 1
outputs
Zineb Bazza

2. Assessment of the Economic benefits
of SSM for farmers and other land
users and identifying best practices
that prevent soil degradation
• ITPS tasked to develop by 2020
• Previously presented concept note was reviewed
by ITPS members (Pillar 1 Working Group + All)
• Reviewed by around 10 people.
• To be presented at the GSP Plenary Assembly in
June 2019.

3. Assessment of Economic benefits of
SSM
• A cost-benefit analysis of SSM implementation can
be achieved for an individual farm or site, if all the
data is available, but scaling to a regional or level is
challenging.
• In the study, we can provide a simple template for
calculation of the cost-benefits of selected SSM
practices at the farm level, as well as several
examples in different regions (ITPS?).

4. Protocol for the assessment of
SSM (Guidance document)
• Lead: Dr. Megan Balks
• Change in the format/ content of the document
• Outline reviewed and approved by the ITPS
• Document underwent multiple rounds of edits
• Reviewed by ITPS and GSP Secretariat

5. Protocol for the assessment of
SSM – Key steps
• General description of the location, soil and land use
• Identification of natural and off-site threats
• Description of current soil management practices
• Selection, measurement and recording of Sustainable Soil
Management indicators
• Interpretation of the results and recommendations of
improved practices to promote SSM
• Design and implementation of ongoing management and
monitoring plans