BLOG
Voices from the field
Filter by topic, region or language:
Agroecology Americas Español Farmer Stories Groundswell News South Asia Systemic Change Traditional Farming Practices West Africa Women in Agriculture Youth in Agriculture
Learning from COVID-19 in the Philippines: Why Growing Our Own Food Is Essential
By: Rene Lucero, Guest Writer Cebu is an island province in the central part of the Philippines that hosts the country’s second-biggest city, Cebu City. Agriculture is one of the main economic activities on the island, along with fisheries, industry, and tourism. Being a major tourist destination, Cebu suffered so much from the COVID-19 pandemic. The first COVID-19 case in the country was an international traveler who entered Cebu. The first lockdown that was enforced in March 2020 shocked everyone. All of a sudden, people lost their jobs and sources of livelihood. Those who were working in th …
Groundswell’s 2020 Annual Report: Highlights
Each year, the annual report sums up the progress our organization has made in countries around the world. 2020 was a year plagued by hardships and crises, yet we were still able to partner with grassroots organizations to bring agroecological principles where resilience to hunger, disease, and poverty was needed most. Here are a few highlights from the 2020 Annual Report In Haiti, Groundswell is working with Partenariat pour le Développement Local (PDL) to scale farmer-led agroecology to address climate change. In 2020 over 360 community leaders, nearly 40% women, were engaged in participator …
Catalyzing Resilient Seed Systems in Mexico during COVID-19
In southern Mexico, the loss of native seed varieties is a crisis undermining indigenous communities and cultures. We at Groundswell International are facilitating a collaborative action-learning process with eight local NGOs to strengthen farmer’s capacities to recover, improve and distribute quality local corn, beans, wheat, and amaranth seeds. This reverses the loss of biodiversity and improves food production and resilience to climate change. Seed production is essential, not only to conserve biodiversity, but also for rural communities’ food security. This is broadly involved in the commu …
Improving the resilience of rural communities in the Sahel through pro-equity agroecology interventions
Vulnerability looks different across all rural communities. Pro-equity agroecology programs must take that into account.
In Loving Memory of Rebecca Akua Sabri
Rural Women Farmers Association of Ghana This tribute piece is a guest post from her sons, Denis Banuoku and Daniel Banuoku. We at Groundswell are grateful for Rebecca’s work over her lifetime and her family’s continued commitment to honor her legacy. Mrs. Rebecca Sabri was a gentle and warm soul. And that warmth radiated and touched many who had the opportunity to interact with her. Perpetually a mother to all, her arms and home were open to receive so many people in her lifetime. A very brilliant woman that oozed wisdom, She was a trail blazer and change leader in several ways. The fac …
The Dry Corridor in Crisis
The Dry Corridor of Central America is in crisis. Extreme environmental degradation, increasingly unpredictable rainfall due to Climate Change, recurrent droughts, flooding, and other natural disasters threaten the lives and livelihoods of more than 10 million people living in this ecologically fragile region.