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
Agroecology
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
Improving the resilience of rural communities in the Sahel through pro-equity agroecology interventions
Systematic transformation is essential to tackle inequity and build resilience In the Sahel, the vast gap in food security between poor and wealthy households shows that economic growth benefits are not reaching the most vulnerable, particularly women and children, within rural communities. Evidence indicates that to improve resilience, a progressive transformation of the entire Sahelian farming system to address climate change and land degradation is essential. The primary way to … [Read more...] about Improving the resilience of rural communities in the Sahel through pro-equity agroecology interventions
Agroecology: A Ground-Up Solution Empowering Marginalized Communities to Address Climate Change and Forced Migration
Environmental consequences disproportionately impact the poor and marginalized because they are excluded from decision-making processes that affect the places where they live. This has been true for generations, but today the stakes are greater than ever as environmental challenges, such as climate change, generate uneven environmental consequences on a global scale. People living in low-lying places, especially island nations that are just a few feet above sea level, are obviously … [Read more...] about Agroecology: A Ground-Up Solution Empowering Marginalized Communities to Address Climate Change and Forced Migration
Agroecology and Local Markets: Sources of Hope During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latin America
By: Edwin Escoto, Regional Coordinator for Latin America & the Caribbean In Latin America, centuries of intractable social inequality and the accelerating deterioration of ecosystems, which are rooted in the neoliberal economic “development” model, have dramatically exacerbated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation has become so dire that the lives of millions now hang in the balance. These long-smoldering social and environmental crises demand urgent action if we have any … [Read more...] about Agroecology and Local Markets: Sources of Hope During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latin America