Abstract—Fungi are active degrading initiators of organic matter in soils as many substrates are first populated by sugar fungi e.g., Mucorales. Vermicomposting is now well known and is generally a good organic fertilizer majorly populated by bacteria i.e., nitrogen fixers, sulphur bacteria and phosphate solubilizers. The use of vermicompost in introducing these components into the soil leads to improvement of soil health thereby yielding nutritious food which consequently contributes to human health. A number of organic foliar sprays constitute of components similar to plant growth promoter substances. For example, vermiwash is a good liquid fertilizer proven to harbor plant growth promoting substances. Humification may be supported by vermiwash which also, by virtue of its quality may increase microbial actions to produce enzymes and compounds promoting plant growth. The compounds present in vermiwash may not independently foster plant growth but possibly promote plant growth along with beneficial soil microbes. These products are known to improve soil health and in presence of other products i.e., Gunapasela and Panchagavya can offer healthy nutrition from soil to plant. In recent times, insistent use of soil pollutants in forms of chemical fertilizers as against organic practices has negatively impacted surrounding soils, and in extreme cases surface and groundwater reserves. Lately, genetically modified substances (GMS) are used to nurse plants (with consequential impacts on the soil and invariably on human health) in contrast to, organic measures which nurses the soil (improving cluster of biotic elements and nutrients proportionately mixed) for uptake by plants, consequently leading to healthier soils and food produce beneficial for human health. For this reason, the paper highlights the efficacy of earthworms as a sustainable eco-friendly option constructively engineering soil and human health with minimal environmental and ecological impact. Index Terms—Earthworms, Vermicompost, Soil health, Human health, Genetically Modified Substances (GMS) I. INTRODUCTION YPICALLY soil is seen as a formation of natural deposits metamorphosized into weak or solid strata. The presence of organic matter together with actions of micro and macro organisms gives soil its dynamic nature. As such, the rich Emmanuel Emem-Obong Agbenyeku is a research student at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa (phone: +27 11 559 6396; e-mail: kobitha2003@yahoo.com; emmaa@uj.ac.za). Edison Muzenda is a Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Head of Department of Chemical, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Private Mail Bag 16, Palapye, Botswana, visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Johannesburg, P.O.Box 17011, 2028, South Africa (phone: +27 11 559 6817; e-mail: muzendae@biust.ac.bw; emuzenda@uj.ac.za). Innocent Mandla Msibi is Executive Director of the Research and Innovation Division, University of Johannesburg, South Africa (phone: +27 11 559 6280; e-mail: mimsibi@uj.ac.za). presence of these microbes in soil is considered to give life to the soil. Numerous soil organisms i.e., earthworms, fungi, bacteria, springtails, mites, millipedes, slugs, beetles, nematodes etc., engineer countless biochemical changes from the decomposition of waste and organic matter. Considering the hosts of organisms present in soil contributing to soil health, it is importantly noted as recorded by [1] that earthworms play the most significant role in soil fertility. Modern day agriculture sees soil fertility through the eyes of genetically modified substances (GMS) and mistakes it for soil behaviours under the influence of chemical fertilizers, disregarding the impact it has on soil and human health in the long run. However, in actual sense, soil fertility in a natural organic setting is the inbuilt ability of soil to deliver proper and proportionate nutrients to plants in sufficient quantities. Therefore, soil health becomes associated with the natural display of soil behaviour in the absence of chemical additives while soil productivity becomes linked to soil capability to yield crops. As defined by [1] soil is a unified body of active and functional structures operating through myriad living organisms in which by virtue of man-based agro-ecosystems, necessitates drastic conservation and management. Soil health as earlier stated is the ability of the soil to naturally operate as an active living system towards supporting plant and animal productivity. Ideally, the abundance, stability and diversity of soil microbes act as key pointers to soil health which in essence, determines the level of soil fertility [2]. On the contrary, in modern agriculture more importance is attributed to soil fertility through GMSs which negatively impacts human and environmental health while little or no attention is given to soil health which inherently possesses the means for soil to maintain its living nature thereby, positively impacting human and environmental health from engineered soil-plant interaction. This paper therefore, posits the efficacy of earthworms in engineering soil health geared towards improved human health as a sustainable eco-friendly option with minimal environmental impact. II. BIOTIC COMPONENT OF SOIL A. Earthworms as a Major Soil Biota With respect to soil formation, earthworms are a special and one of the most important biotic components of the soil as they maintain the soil structure and improve soil fertility. Earthworms are enormously significant in soil formation as described by [3], primarily by their consumption and fragmentation of organic matter as well as the thorough integration of the fragments with mineral particles to create water stable aggregates. When earthworms feed, they trigger Earthworms as Engineers of Soil and Human Health Emmanuel Emem-Obong Agbenyeku, Edison Muzenda and Innocent Mandla Msibi, Member, IAENG T Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2015 Vol II WCECS 2015, October 21-23, 2015, San Francisco, USA ISBN: 978-988-14047-2-5 ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online) WCECS 2015