POOR soils and food shortages in developing nations could cause a security issue that would "make ISIS look like a child's tea party", according to former Governor General Michael Jeffery.
A veteran of the Australian army, Mr Jeffery spoke to NSW Farm Writers today in his capacity as the nation's first soil health advocate.
Using the examples of declining soil quality and arable land and rising global population, Mr Jeffery said looking after soil health to feed the world was one of the biggest issues currently facing humanity.
There were already 27,000 children starving to death every day around the world, and by 2050 global food production would need to double to meet growing populations.
"Soil underpins life as we know it," Mr Jeffery said.
"We'll have a security problem that will make ISIS look like a child's tea party (if we don't start improving soil health and the productivity of land to produce food)."
Australia could lead the way in researching how to improve soil carbon content, microbial ecologies and water retention of soils on farm, all ways of improving productivity, he said.
Mr Jeffery used an example of a cattle station in the Northern Territory which used cell grazing techniques to improve soil and pasture quality to the point it was able to increase its production from about 25,000 head of cattle to almost 100,000.
Farmers needed to be rewarded for looking after 60 per cent of Australia's landscape on behalf of urban Australians, and education of the next generation about the importance of soil health needed to begin immediately, he said.
Putting a garden in every school where students could learn about growing things was one suggestion he had.