What does a woman farmer's day look like in the hills of Nepal? What does it mean to save seeds in Central America when industrial agriculture has spent decades trying to make that knowledge irrelevant? What does it take to challenge a patriarchal tradition, and bring about social change? For the past two weeks, these are the questions youth from smallholder farming communities have been answering on film. Their short films premiered at our Field to Film Festival, an annual youth-led event … [Read more...] about The Women Who Feed Us: 15 Youth-Led Films Honoring Women Farmers
Practical Lessons from Pacho Gangotena’s Agroecological Farm in Ecuador
As part of our regional conference in Latin America, we visited Pacho Gangotena’s agroecological farm, a short drive from Ecuador’s capital, Quito. Finca Chaupi Molina is not just any agroecological farm. Over 32,000 Indigenous farmers and technicians have crossed its grounds to learn from Pacho and transform their own farms and chakras into healthy, regenerative systems. Harmony is the first word that comes to mind when crossing its humble gates. Striking simplicity and care were applied to … [Read more...] about Practical Lessons from Pacho Gangotena’s Agroecological Farm in Ecuador
The Silence of the Land: A Story Written by Young Storytellers from Mexico
As part of an activity within the Youth Storytellers Program with Centéotl in Mexico, youth set out to create a short journalistic chronicle rooted in their own territory. The exercise was designed as a hands-on experience to strengthen writing and research skills, while also putting into practice different tools for observation and contextual analysis. Throughout the process, the youth worked on preparing interviews, both planned and spontaneous, and on developing skills for engaging with … [Read more...] about The Silence of the Land: A Story Written by Young Storytellers from Mexico
EL SILENCIO DE LA TIERRA: Una historia escrita por jóvenes contadores de historias de México
Como parte de una actividad del proceso de los Jóvenes Contadores de Historias con Centéotl en México, las y los participantes se aventuraron a realizar una pequeña crónica periodística desde su propio territorio. El ejercicio fue pensado como una experiencia práctica para fortalecer habilidades de escritura y de investigación, así como para poner en juego distintas herramientas de observación y análisis del contexto. A lo largo del proceso, los jóvenes trabajaron en la preparación de … [Read more...] about EL SILENCIO DE LA TIERRA: Una historia escrita por jóvenes contadores de historias de México
Scaling Agroecology in West Africa with Community-Led Agroecology Committees: Lessons for Facilitators
Partnerships that leave communities strong, self-reliant, and resilient have been at the core of the work of Groundswell International and its partners in West Africa. A key part of this work is training field teams to facilitate community-led approaches and strategies to scale agroecology, combining learnings from different countries. Earlier this year, member organizations from Burkina Faso and Ghana participated in a series of trainings and pilot programs aimed at helping communities … [Read more...] about Scaling Agroecology in West Africa with Community-Led Agroecology Committees: Lessons for Facilitators
Planning Climate-Resilient Farms with Hand-Drawn Maps and Satellite Images
High in the Ecuadorian Andes, two farming communities, Cuellaloma in Chimborazo and Atocha in Cotopaxi, are redrawing the future of their land, quite literally. Farmers gather to sketch their chakras—traditional biodiverse Andean plots—as they want them to be. These hand-drawn maps help farmers plan strategically for food security, income, and resilience in the face of a changing climate. The chakra is the heart of daily life for Kichwa families in the Andes. These ancestral systems enable … [Read more...] about Planning Climate-Resilient Farms with Hand-Drawn Maps and Satellite Images