It is increasingly clear that the rules by which we have organized our broader economic and political systems, with our agricultural and food systems at their center, are generating overlapping economic, environmental, social, and political crises. Our general ‘operating system’ is broken and has led us to what many are now referring to as a 'poly-crisis.' Industrialized agricultural and food systems are major drivers of climate change, environmental destruction, the dangerous … [Read more...] about What Fertile Ground Teaches Us About Scaling Agroecology
Agroecology
Women Farmers and Climate Change in West Africa
By: Dioma Komonsira Already weakened by gender inequalities and socio-cultural norms, women farmers in West Africa face new challenges in the context of climate change. Due to the dependence of West African agriculture on rainfall, extreme weather events such as prolonged droughts, flash floods, and bushfires are becoming more frequent in the region and have a direct impact on harvests and, by extension, on the food security of farming households, especially women. Difficult access to water, … [Read more...] about Women Farmers and Climate Change in West Africa
Fertile Ground 2023: Scaling Agroecology from the Ground Up – Reissued publication with Practical Action
We take great pride in announcing the re-release of our book, "Fertile Ground: Scaling Agroecology from the Ground Up," edited by Groundswell's Co-Founder and Executive Director Steve Brescia, as an open-source edition published with Practical Action Publishing, launching November 15, 2023. Since the initial publication of this book in 2017, global events have only served to reaffirm our original motivation for documenting and sharing these invaluable agroecological case studies, along with the … [Read more...] about Fertile Ground 2023: Scaling Agroecology from the Ground Up – Reissued publication with Practical Action
Mayan Seeds of Hope
By: Edwin Escoto During my recent trip to some of Guatemala’s villages, I had the opportunity to witness how passionate the indigenous people (Maya Achi) are about preserving their native seeds, symbols of their identity, culture, and resistance. I spent one week with my colleagues, Tim and Judelon Lasalle, trying to learn and understand how essential and strategic it is for the Mayan people to control their own seeds – essential because they can decide what type of seed they want to … [Read more...] about Mayan Seeds of Hope
New Evidence of Impact: Agroecology as a Poverty Solution in Haiti
Since 2009, Groundswell International has been collaborating with Partenariat pour le Développement Local (PDL) in Haiti to strengthen farmers’ associations in the north of Haiti’s Central Plateau basin to regenerate their farmland and improve their lives. PDL has strengthened 14 peasant organizations, with over 9,900 farmers adapting agroecological farming strategies and spreading them farmer-to-farmer. These organizations also manage community savings & credit coops, seed banks, grain … [Read more...] about New Evidence of Impact: Agroecology as a Poverty Solution in Haiti
Farmers’ Knowledge and Seeds in Mexico: Food Solutions via Mexico Seed Project
World Food Day, celebrated on October 16th, focuses attention on solutions to hunger and poverty. For Groundswell International, that is where our attention is focused every day. Seeds, soils, water, markets - these are all essential and interconnected parts of healthy farming and food systems. But at the center of it all are family farmers - their human ingenuity and solidarity, building on their indigenous knowledge, cultures, and legacy of continuously innovating solutions with nature, … [Read more...] about Farmers’ Knowledge and Seeds in Mexico: Food Solutions via Mexico Seed Project