The publication of the Transactions of Eurasian Soil Partnership (EASP) is aimed at integration of the efforts of researchers and practitioners working in the area of sustainable management of soil resources for addressing major tasks on the preservation and improvement of soil as the paramount natural resource. It is expected that this and the following issues of the Transactions of EASP will promote sustainable land management in a broad context, including climatic change, socioeconomic situation in the region, land degradation and desertification etc. The first volume is an outcome of the analysis of the importance of soils for regional food security. Food security has traditionally been viewed as an economic concept. Under this term we usually refer to the ability of society to produce or acquire the necessary amount of food for the population, sharing this food in a relatively fair manner, and providing certain standards for its quality. Obviously, each of the components depends not only on purely economic indicators, but also on a number of factors related to natural resources and their condition. Of natural resources, which define food security, one of the first places rightfully belongs to soil. Initial soil fertility, soil properties that limit the agricultural use of the soil, and the degree of its anthropogenic degradation largely determine all the components of food security. This book is aimed at finding answers to questions about what the current situation with soil resources in the region of Central Asia and Southern Caucasus as related to food security, and how we can improve the food supply through the impact on the soil.

The book consists of three parts. The first part is devoted to common issues of food security and sustainable development, and to the role of soil resources in their maintenance. The second part is about land resources, the assessment of their degradation and successful practices of their recovery. The third part puts assessment and soil functioning in the context of a systematic approach, which encompasses multiple components of the landscape.