19yo Sahil Is Cycling The World For Soil Health
Cycling the world for soil health. That’s the mission of 19-year-old Sahil Jha, a young Indian bike rider who is so passionate about soil degradation that he is riding 20,000km around the world to share his heartfelt message.
Now in Australia, where he is riding from Bundaberg in Queensland through to Adelaide, the epic journey will ultimately cover four continents and 20 countries.
“The mission is to raise awareness about the global soil crisis and advocate for sustainable agricultural practices that can restore soil health,” he told Indian Link.
“I’ll be advocating for policies that increase soil organic content, initiating educational programs, and forming a coalition of change-makers to drive global awareness and sustainable action.”
“I’ve been preparing through endurance training, route planning, and building a small support network to manage logistics and on-ground coordination.”
The Soil Crisis
Sahil said the soil degradation is a looming global threat, with severe consequences that affect our nutrition, climate, biodiversity, and food security. His mission is based on the key points that –
- Nutritional Deficiency: Over 2 billion people worldwide suffer from nutritional deficiencies due to poor soil health.
- Climate Change: Degraded soil contributes to global warming, increases CO2 emissions, and leads to water scarcity.
- Biodiversity Loss: As soil suffers, ecosystems and wildlife face the threat of extinction.
- Food Security: In the next 20 years, we may produce 40% less food, just as the global population reaches 9.3 billion.
The Solution
Sahil says the answer lies in improving soil health by increasing the organic content in soil.
“This not only improves food quality but also helps mitigate climate change and restores biodiversity,” he said. “Implementing global policies to protect soil is crucial for ensuring a sustainable future for all.”
Amod Datar, the Australian coordinator of the Save Soil movement, said he hopes riders, clubs and supporters will welcome Sahil as he continues the ride from Sydney through to Adelaide.
“It will be wonderful if the biking clubs of various cities and towns support Sahil by riding with him for a short time as he enters their towns or cities,” he said.
“They could also host him for a small event where he can talk about Soil degradation and action required. They could also follow and post about his journey on their clubs and members’ social media pages.”
You can follow and support Sahil’s journey via his social channels found here.
And you can support Sahil and his Save Soil mission via his GoFundme page here.
