Farmers in Nepal, especially women, face a host of intersecting challenges. Many work with limited resources under difficult conditions, while also managing livestock, household responsibilities, and their children’s education from a young age. This burden takes a toll on their health and ability to sustain a livelihood. Women farmers are also particularly exposed to toxic pesticides—a result of structural inequality and poor regulation. As Nepali Times reports, "women and Dalit households … [Read more...] about How Joining a Women’s Savings Group Helped This Farmer Survive Cancer
“We Are One”: Mercedes, a Young Kichwa Woman, Speaks on Nature, Community & Indigenous Knowledge
Mercedes is 16 years old and lives in Tunshi Grande, a Kichwa community 3,000 meters above sea level in Chimborazo, Ecuador.From there, she can see Taita Chimborazo, the closest point to the sun from the center of the Earth. But what interests her is not the summit but what happens below: the water that rises in the moors, the soils that feed the chakras, and the plants that heal her people. She recently told us about her two-year journey with the Youth Storytellers program, a space where … [Read more...] about “We Are One”: Mercedes, a Young Kichwa Woman, Speaks on Nature, Community & Indigenous Knowledge
Returning to our Grandmothers’ Kitchens: Eating with an Agroecological Mindset
The smell always got there first. Upstairs, while I played with my cousins, the scent of my French grandmother's cooking filled the house; roasted potatoes, bubbling butter, something meaty and rich we couldn't quite place yet. Everything came from nearby: mushrooms from our morning walk in the woods, herbs from the garden, butter churned by a neighbor, and meat from healthy grass-fed cows, locally known as "La Charolaise." Each meal was a long sensory feast. We ate while listening to my … [Read more...] about Returning to our Grandmothers’ Kitchens: Eating with an Agroecological Mindset
Imagining an Agroecological Future: Pathways & Blockers
Vast fields of uniform crops have long defined our agricultural landscapes—a familiar promise of endless abundance. This is the image many of us have known for decades, so ingrained in our way of life that shifting to a different model seems inconceivable. Today, the cracks in this system are undeniable: drought and extreme heat burning hectares of land. Unforeseen frosts and storms disturbing seasons' rhythm and wreaking havoc on plants' growing cycles. Fruits and vegetables that once … [Read more...] about Imagining an Agroecological Future: Pathways & Blockers
This Women’s Group in Nepal is Restoring Soil Health with Biofertilizers
In a small farming village tucked in Nepal’s hilly countryside, women in pink and red saris crouch in tidy rows of plump tomatoes, their hands feeding the soil. Nearby, a group of women—the Jwaladevi Women Farmer Group—gather in a circle around a pile of green leaves to prepare biofertilizers. One of them chops aromatic herbs—nettle, neem, and bitter Artemisia—while another stirs them into a muddy mixture in a large plastic drum. Older women sit cross-legged, observing the process with keen … [Read more...] about This Women’s Group in Nepal is Restoring Soil Health with Biofertilizers
How Penda Turned a Dumping Ground into an Agroecological Urban Farm in Senegal
It's April. The temperature hovers at 104F (40°C). The ground feels hot beneath our feet, the wind is dry, and the air is heavy. Half-built buildings with brick and concrete walls line narrow sandy streets, where women stride with heads held high and shoulders back, balancing fruit baskets atop their heads. The sky isn't as gray as in downtown Thiès or Dakar, but pollution still lingers, with faint smells of burning waste. Baobab trees, their branches bare, and a few thorny bushes are the only … [Read more...] about How Penda Turned a Dumping Ground into an Agroecological Urban Farm in Senegal