Soil
Soil is an important pillar of our Natural Resource Stewardship Strategy. The majority of our risk and impact on soils is in our agricultural supply base, so our priority is establishing soil health management to drive progress.
The natural environment plays a critical role in sustaining life and supporting the production of our food system. Our natural resource stewardship strategy prioritises driving a positive impact across water, biodiversity and soil. The natural environment is complex and interconnected and making progress in these areas helps us also deliver our broader carbon and climate change programme.
The Earth’s soils are an ecosystem of their own. If healthy, they can act as an invaluable tool to tackle the climate crisis, absorbing carbon, managing water levels, promoting biodiversity, and supporting agricultural productivity. Poorly managed land can lead to the breakdown of soil structure, which means they can no longer produce the same benefits for planet and people.
Our Nature Strategy
Landscape and local land management
We’re adopting both landscape-level and local approaches to our Nature Strategy, recognising the interconnectedness of water, biodiversity, and soil health. By focusing on the unique needs of entire landscapes and the collective action of individual farms within them, we can restore natural processes and improve ecosystem resilience. We’re working with suppliers to identify key action areas and create clear plans. This includes trialling tools for agricultural biodiversity and expanding water stewardship projects. Globally, we support this through funding WRAP-led collective action projects in Southern Spain and South Africa, which focus on restoring natural processes and improving long-term sustainability in key sourcing areas.
Soil: The unsung hero of our food system
The natural environment is the foundation of life—and the backbone of our food system. Soil is a key pillar of our nature strategy. Since most of our soil impact lies within our agricultural supply chain, we’re prioritising soil health management—working with farmers and partners to protect and regenerate this vital resource.
Why Soil Matters
Soil isn’t just dirt—it’s a living, breathing ecosystem. When healthy, it:
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Absorbs carbon and helps fight climate change
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Regulates water levels and reduces flood risk
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Supports biodiversity above and below ground
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Sustains long-term agricultural productivity
But when land is poorly managed, soil structure breaks down—leading to erosion, reduced fertility, and lost environmental benefits.
By investing in soil, we’re not just growing better crops—we’re growing a better future.
Soil health monitoring requirements and targets establish by the end of 2025.
We have been collaborating with farmers to understand how positive action on soil can happen at scale at a farm level. Building on soil health trials Asda have undertaken with a range of suppliers looking at physical, chemical, and biological indicators, we are working with suppliers to develop requirements and targets for suppliers to improve their soil health.
We promote more responsible farming practices in our supply chain by encouraging farmers to adopt practices that lower any unintended impacts on other insects, animals and plants.
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