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
Agroecology
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. Gray baobab trees, their branches bare, and a few thorny bushes are the … [Read more...] about How Penda Turned a Dumping Ground into an Agroecological Urban Farm in Senegal
Indigenous Farming Systems in Ecuador: Lessons for Adapting to Climate Change
In this blog post: "In each household in our community, we have the native seeds that we have saved from our ancestors," says Elena Tenelema as she walks across her farm. "Caring for our Pachamama (Mother Earth) is the most important thing. If we contaminate it with chemicals, it will be the end of our land, and we won't have it in the future." Elena is from the Quechua community of Tzimbuto, in the Central Andean highlands of Ecuador. A leader in managing community seed banks and … [Read more...] about Indigenous Farming Systems in Ecuador: Lessons for Adapting to Climate Change
How Agroecological Farming Transformed Emmanuel’s Field in Burkina Faso
We recently met one exceptional farmer whose story speaks to the heart of our work: Wango Emmanuel, from Bonessin, Burkina Faso. After spending several years living and working in Côte d'Ivoire, Emmanuel returned to his native village amid a grave political crisis. His only means of feeding his family was a small plot of land he inherited from his father. But the soil had hardened like cement, rendered unproductive by decades of extractive farming practices common in the area. As … [Read more...] about How Agroecological Farming Transformed Emmanuel’s Field in Burkina Faso
Lessons from Our Global Conference in Berlin: Farmer-Led Innovation at the Center of Agroecology
In September, over 30 people from West Africa, South Asia, the Americas, and Europe gathered in Berlin, Germany for Groundswell International's Global Conference, hosted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung foundation. Among them were leaders from our 14 NGO partners spanning 11 countries—from Burkina Faso to Haiti and Ecuador to India—along with our staff, board members, and global allies. Together, we shared lessons from the field, learned from local farmers and activists, and strengthened plans to … [Read more...] about Lessons from Our Global Conference in Berlin: Farmer-Led Innovation at the Center of Agroecology
Transforming Food Systems From the Ground Up: Our Theory of Change
For over 13,000 years, farming has been about people constantly innovating and working with nature to create reliable ways to grow food and enhance well-being. But the past 200 years have seen a dramatic shift towards industrial agriculture. Heavy reliance on fossil fuels and mechanization became the norm, prioritizing quick growth over protecting natural resources. Today, a few large corporations dominate the supply of farming inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and … [Read more...] about Transforming Food Systems From the Ground Up: Our Theory of Change