[P2P-F] ARTICLE: Farming with Nature (reThink, 28 June 2018)

Sat Jul 7 20:43:54 CEST 2018

good to know, thanks Steve

On Sun, Jul 8, 2018 at 1:29 AM, Steve Bosserman <steve.bosserman at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks, Michel!
>
> During my work visits to Tanzania 3 years ago I had the opportunity to
> associate with Janet Maro and Alex Wostry, life partners and co-founders of Sustainable
> Agriculture Tanzania (SAT)
> <http://kilimo.org/WordPress/sustainable-agriculture-tanzania-sat/vision-mission/>.
> Janet, a graduate of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA)
> <http://www.sua.ac.tz> in Morogoro, and Alex, originally from Austria,
> have established a comprehensive agroecological / entrepreneurial program
> for smallholders throughout Tanzania.  While the article speaks eloquently
> about several such programs underway worldwide, I would like to add SAT to
> the list as another excellent example of hands-on research, application,
> and training to advance and expand the understanding about and practical
> use of agroecological concepts.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve B.
>
> On Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 8:04 AM Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>
> wrote:
>
>> fyi
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Ryan Fortune <ryan.fortune2012 at gmail.com>
>> Date: Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 1:37 PM
>> Subject: ARTICLE: Farming with Nature (reThink, 28 June 2018)
>> To: James Gien Wong <gien at stopresetgo.org>
>> Cc: Brenda Skelenge <breske at me.com>, Paul Wildman <paul at kalgrove.com>,
>> Michael Thompson <mthompson.architect at gmail.com>, Lerato Mohapi-Thahane <
>> thahane.lerato at gmail.com>, steven johnstone <steven.johnstone at askd.co.za>,
>> Tom Harper <tafharper at gmail.com>, Andy Thomson <andythomson2000 at gmail.com>,
>> Jerome Osentowski <jerome at crmpi.org>, senai <firesenai at gmx.de>, Michael
>> H Shuman <shuman at igc.org>, jose ramos <jose at actionforesight.net>, michel
>> bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>, Themba Tana <thembatana at shaw.ca>,
>> homeJudith Lee <judithlee at shaw.ca>, Rebekka Harvey <rebekkah at shaw.ca>,
>> Roberto Valenti <robbyvalenti at gmail.com>, Bryan Curtin <
>> bryan.curtin at gmail.com>, bernie <bcj1707 at gmail.com>, conway lotter <
>> conway at hubd.com>, Markus Verena's friend <easyrhinoprime at gmail.com>,
>> "Marco [reNature]" <artmiks.marco at gmail.com>, Felipe Villela <
>> felipebvillela at hotmail.com>
>>
>>
>> Twelve years ago, in 2006, Haregu Gobezay was unemployed and her family
>> with six children relied on her husband’s salary to cover all their
>> expenses.
>>
>> Today, Gobezay and her husband manage a 12-hectare farm with mango,
>> orange, mandarin, and avocado plantations in Mereb Leke District of the
>> Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia. They also keep a few dairy cows, and
>> chickens for egg production.
>>
>> They no longer rely on a single crop. The finger millet they used to grow
>> often suffered from weed invasions and termites, and the yield was low due
>> to thin and nutrient-poor soils.
>>
>> Now they grow a wide range of different crops.
>>
>> This has helped them tackle many challenges, and made it possible for
>> them to employ almost a hundred people and make a good profit from selling
>> mango and other fruits.
>>
>> *Agroecology has the explicit goal of strengthening the sustainability of
>> all parts of the food system, from the seed and the soil, to the table,
>> including ecological knowledge, economic viability, and social justice.*
>>
>> Gobezay started with planting vegetables; she then added fruit trees, and
>> peanut plants as cover crops that fertilise the soil by fixing nitrogen
>> from the air, with the help of bacteria living in their root systems.
>> Eventually, she brought in dairy cows and started cultivating pasture
>> plants such as alfalfa, Rhodes grass, and elephant grass under the trees.
>>
>> To improve soil fertility further and to increase soil organic matter,
>> the family now prepares compost in 20 big pits. In addition, a biogas plant
>> on the dairy farm produces bio-slurry compost and energy for cooking.
>>
>> The family also uses “push-pull” technology as an additional source of
>> income. The technology was developed in Africa to control Striga weeds and
>> insect pests, particularly stemborer moths, without using chemical
>> pesticides. It involves growing maize, sorghum or mango trees together with
>> flowering plants such as Desmodium that repel, or “push”, the pests, and
>> planting other plants such as elephant grass around the crops to attract,
>> or “pull”, the pests. Desmodium eliminates Striga weeds and repels the
>> stemborers, which are instead attracted to the elephant grass. By growing
>> Desmodium, the family’s farm has become a source of seeds for scaling up
>> the push-pull technology in the whole region.
>>
>> More and more farmers around the world are turning away from
>> chemical-intensive single-crop farming in favour of production methods
>> based on diversity, local inputs of for example compost, and ecosystem
>> services.
>>
>> This kind of “agroecological” farming has seen a revival in recent years
>> as a response to the many challenges facing agriculture globally.
>>
>> There is growing evidence that agroecological farming systems keep carbon
>> in the ground, support biodiversity, rebuild soils, and sustain yields,
>> providing a basis for secure livelihoods.
>>
>>
>>
>> Today’s agriculture produces enough food for the global population, but
>> it has not given everyone everywhere access to sufficient, safe, and
>> nutritious food.
>>
>> Agriculture has also contributed to soil degradation
>> <https://rethink.earth/turning-desert-to-fertile-farmland-on-the-loess-plateau/>,
>> a misuse of natural resources, and the crossing of crucial planetary
>> boundaries that have kept Earth in a relatively stable state for the past
>> 11,000 years, since before agriculture was invented.
>>
>>
>> * CONTINUE READING:* https://rethink.earth/farming-with-nature/
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at:
>> http://commonstransition.org
>>
>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>>
>> <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates:
>> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>>
>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
>>
>

-- 
Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

<http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates:
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#82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
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