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
Agroecology
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
Addressing the Global Food Crisis Through Agroecology: A Series By Chris Sacco
Over the last few years, we have all grown accustomed to hearing about how our world is in the midst of one global crisis or another. While the COVID-19 pandemic had a large amount of our attention over the last couple of years, another looming crisis has been quietly and rapidly gaining traction: global food insecurity. As of 2020, 2.37 billion people globally did not have access to adequate food, an increase of 320 million people from the previous year. Over the course of the last few … [Read more...] about Addressing the Global Food Crisis Through Agroecology: A Series By Chris Sacco
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 … [Read more...] about Catalyzing Resilient Seed Systems in Mexico during COVID-19