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Introduction:

Our soils have for decades been destroyed at an alarming rate. The main culprit has been industrial agriculture with its systematical destruction of life in the soil. When the soils are only fed chemical fertilizer and no or little organic material, the life in the soil eventually disappears. More and more fertilizer and pesticides are needed, contributing to this downward spiral. 
Clearing of forests, grassland and meadows to expand the agricultural area has also led to many more poor and degraded soils. 
Finally the more and more frequent fires do their part in making it impossible for many organisms to survive in the soils. The high temperatures during the fires kill organisms and destroy the soil structures, while also the organic material (which is food for the organisms) is burnt. 
So, for sure, rebuilding living and healthy soils is necessary, and there are actually many advantages in doing so. 
There is the question of loss of nutrients. Just a small country like Malawi is estimated to lose corresponding to several hundred million USD every year in fertilizer value from their agricultural land, as the nutrients are washed out of the soils and into rivers and lakes. 
Living soils reduce erosion and thus stop the degradation of soils that make more and more areas unsuitable for productive uses. 
Soils with a rich life of organisms also enable a richer life above ground. This diversity of mammals, birds and insects is also crucial for keeping down pests and diseases, which so often reduce agricultural production. 
There is also the question of local water resources, where rich, living soils play a crucial role. Poor, degraded soils hold much less water than a living soil full of humus and other organic material. This stored water can then be used by plants - for example to overcome a drought spell in the rainy season. 
On a larger scale, soils that are able to store water and have numerous holes made by roots, insects and worms contribute to maintain the groundwater levels and thereby water to streams and rivers. 
Even on the global level, the living soils play a huge role. Vast amounts of carbon were previously stored in the topsoils around the world. As industrial farming, forest degradation and bushfires have destroyed these topsoils, the carbon has been released into the atmosphere, where it contributes to Global Warming because the carbon now is in the form of CO2 - one of the main greenhouse gases heating up our planet.

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