<div dir="ltr">good to know, thanks Steve</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jul 8, 2018 at 1:29 AM, Steve Bosserman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:steve.bosserman@gmail.com" target="_blank">steve.bosserman@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Thanks, Michel!<div><br></div><div>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 <a href="http://kilimo.org/WordPress/sustainable-agriculture-tanzania-sat/vision-mission/" target="_blank">Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT)</a>. Janet, a graduate of <a href="http://www.sua.ac.tz" target="_blank">Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA)</a> 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.</div><div><br></div><div>Best regards,</div><div><br></div><div>Steve B. </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 8:04 AM Michel Bauwens <<a href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">michel@p2pfoundation.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">fyi<div><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Ryan Fortune</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ryan.fortune2012@gmail.com" target="_blank">ryan.fortune2012@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 1:37 PM<br>Subject: ARTICLE: Farming with Nature (reThink, 28 June 2018)<br>To: James Gien Wong <<a href="mailto:gien@stopresetgo.org" target="_blank">gien@stopresetgo.org</a>><br>Cc: Brenda Skelenge <<a href="mailto:breske@me.com" target="_blank">breske@me.com</a>>, Paul Wildman <<a href="mailto:paul@kalgrove.com" target="_blank">paul@kalgrove.com</a>>, Michael Thompson <<a href="mailto:mthompson.architect@gmail.com" target="_blank">mthompson.architect@gmail.com</a><wbr>>, Lerato Mohapi-Thahane <<a href="mailto:thahane.lerato@gmail.com" target="_blank">thahane.lerato@gmail.com</a>>, steven johnstone <<a href="mailto:steven.johnstone@askd.co.za" target="_blank">steven.johnstone@askd.co.za</a>>, Tom Harper <<a href="mailto:tafharper@gmail.com" target="_blank">tafharper@gmail.com</a>>, Andy Thomson <<a href="mailto:andythomson2000@gmail.com" target="_blank">andythomson2000@gmail.com</a>>, Jerome Osentowski <<a href="mailto:jerome@crmpi.org" target="_blank">jerome@crmpi.org</a>>, senai <<a href="mailto:firesenai@gmx.de" target="_blank">firesenai@gmx.de</a>>, Michael H Shuman <<a href="mailto:shuman@igc.org" target="_blank">shuman@igc.org</a>>, jose ramos <<a href="mailto:jose@actionforesight.net" target="_blank">jose@actionforesight.net</a>>, michel bauwens <<a href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">michel@p2pfoundation.net</a>>, Themba Tana <<a href="mailto:thembatana@shaw.ca" target="_blank">thembatana@shaw.ca</a>>, homeJudith Lee <<a href="mailto:judithlee@shaw.ca" target="_blank">judithlee@shaw.ca</a>>, Rebekka Harvey <<a href="mailto:rebekkah@shaw.ca" target="_blank">rebekkah@shaw.ca</a>>, Roberto Valenti <<a href="mailto:robbyvalenti@gmail.com" target="_blank">robbyvalenti@gmail.com</a>>, Bryan Curtin <<a href="mailto:bryan.curtin@gmail.com" target="_blank">bryan.curtin@gmail.com</a>>, bernie <<a href="mailto:bcj1707@gmail.com" target="_blank">bcj1707@gmail.com</a>>, conway lotter <<a href="mailto:conway@hubd.com" target="_blank">conway@hubd.com</a>>, Markus Verena's friend <<a href="mailto:easyrhinoprime@gmail.com" target="_blank">easyrhinoprime@gmail.com</a>>, "Marco [reNature]" <<a href="mailto:artmiks.marco@gmail.com" target="_blank">artmiks.marco@gmail.com</a>>, Felipe Villela <<a href="mailto:felipebvillela@hotmail.com" target="_blank">felipebvillela@hotmail.com</a>><br><br><br><div dir="ltr">
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 15pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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. <br><br>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.<span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 15pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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. <br>
<br>
Now they grow a wide range of different crops. <br>
<br>
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.<span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 15pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><b><span style="font-size:20pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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.<span></span></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 15pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 15pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 14pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">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. <br>
<br>
This kind of “agroecological” farming has seen a revival in recent years as a
response to the many challenges facing agriculture globally. <br>
<br>
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.</span><sup><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:white;letter-spacing:2.25pt;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0cm;background:rgb(255,82,48)"><span></span></span></sup></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)"><span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)">Today’s
agriculture produces enough food for the global population, but it has not
given everyone everywhere access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious
food. <br>
<br>
<a href="https://rethink.earth/turning-desert-to-fertile-farmland-on-the-loess-plateau/" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(255,82,48);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0cm;text-decoration:none">Agriculture has also contributed to soil degradation</span></a>, 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. <span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 15pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)"><br>
CONTINUE READING:</span></b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(56,56,56)"> <a href="https://rethink.earth/farming-with-nature/" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">https://rethink.earth/farming-<wbr>with-nature/</a></span></p></div>
</div><br><br clear="all"><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="m_-7650222278742618512m_1901620596732855314gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">http://commonstransition.org</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/<wbr>mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-<wbr>complete-list/</a> <br></div></div></div></div>
</font></span></div></div>
</blockquote></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">http://commonstransition.org</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div></div></div>
</div>