Vineyards Are Laying the Groundwork for a Regenerative Farm Future

/by

March 18, 2024 | Source: Civil Eats | by Lisa Held

On a cold, rainy day in late February, it’s hard to picture the bunches of juicy cabernet and chardonnay grapes that will decorate the Vineyards at Dodon’s neat rows of gnarled vines come summer, the fruit ripening in the hot sun.

But even during these dormant months, across 17 rolling acres just 30 miles east of Washington, D.C., the landscape is filled with life.

Long, diverse grasses blanket the ground around and between the vines. In one section, two dozen vocal sheep munch happily on those plants, leaving their waste to stimulate regrowth up and down the aisles. Three acres of meadows provide habitat for insects. A petite blue bird darts across the horizon, flitting between a few of the 600 diverse young trees—loblolly pines, hazelnuts, and plums among them—that are just establishing themselves around and within the perimeter.

This is what Tom Croghan means when he says that, “under the right conditions,” grapevines are especially good at executing nature’s most common magic trick: absorbing carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis and then depositing it far below ground, hopefully for a long while. “We can pay [to create those conditions],” says Croghan, Dodon’s co-owner, “because we can use a byproduct of that system to produce wine.”

CONTINUE READING

Regenerative Agriculture: A New Value Proposition for Kenya’s Coffee Sector

/by

Coffee productivity in Kenya has been on the decline, putting over 1.5 million households, majority smallholders, at risk of losing their means of livelihoods. Between 1990 and 2020, Kenya’s acreage under coffee declined by 30%, from 170,000 to 119,000 hectares. Even worse, production dropped by 70%, from 129,00 to 40,000 Metric Tonnes. The prices of coffee have recently plummeted to as low as Ksh 20 per kilogram of cherry compared to the expected minimum of Ksh. 80 per kg, causing an uproar among the farmers, majority of whom are smallholders. The current productivity of coffee averages 475 kilos per hectare compared to 970 kilos per hectare recorded in 1963.

The low productivity can be attributed to weak coffee sector and extension systems, declining soil health, poor coffee management, adverse climatic conditions and low global coffee prices compared to a high cost of production.

The Government of Kenya has embarked on plans to revive the coffee sector through various coffee sector structural and market reforms.

KEEP READING ON ALLIANCE; BIODIVERSITY & CIAT

Report Calls for Agroecological Rethink of Africa’s Food Amid $61b Industrial Plan

/by

Civil society groups have criticized a new $61 billion initiative to industrialize African food systems, calling the plan a “significant threat to small-scale farmers.” The groups, under the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), say the initiative by the African Development Bank (AfDB) will marginalize smallholders through its one-size-fits-all approach, increase dependency on multinational corporations for seeds and agrochemicals, and lead to the loss of land and biodiversity.

“The emphasis on principal commodity crops, mechanized farming tools, and standardised land tenure systems condenses the practices into a uniform effort aimed at agro industrialization,” AFSA said in a report.

The “Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience” initiative was born out of a two-day summit held in January 2023 in Dakar, Senegal, where representatives of various African governments, the private sector, multilateral organizations, NGOs and scientists met to discuss pressing food issues on the continent. Rates of undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa are roughly at the same levels since 2005 figures, jumping after the COVID-19 pandemic, while a rapidly growing population is putting more pressure of food resources and production.

KEEP READING ON MONGABAY

Transforming Agriculture: Inaugural EU Carbon Farming Summit Breaks Ground for Climate-Resilient Practices

/by

As global environmental challenges intensify and the calls for sustainable agricultural solutions grow louder, the first EU Carbon Farming Summit prepares to welcome experts, innovators, and thought leaders from across Europe to discuss innovation and opportunities for carbon farming. Scheduled to take place in Valencia, Spain, from 5 to 7 March 2024, the summit promises to be a pivotal moment in the pursuit of sustainable agriculture and climate resilience.

Hosted by Project CREDIBLE, EIT Climate-KIC and SAE Innova, the EU Carbon Farming Summit will unite diverse stakeholders — from farmers, to policymakers, environmentalists, and technology experts — to explore innovative techniques that can boost the adoption of carbon farming practices.

The event is a first step in building an EU-wide community of practice for all those motivated by sustainable agricultural soil management. It will showcase everything from regenerative farming approaches to cutting-edge monitoring technologies and will illustrate opportunities to approach agriculture differently.

KEEP READING ON EU REPORTER

 

Report calls for agroecological rethink of Africa’s food amid $61b industrial plan

/by

March 7, 2024 | Source: Mongabay | by Aimee Gabay

Civil society groups have criticized a new $61 billion initiative to industrialize African food systems, calling the plan a “significant threat to small-scale farmers.” The groups, under the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), say the initiative by the African Development Bank (AfDB) will marginalize smallholders through its one-size-fits-all approach, increase dependency on multinational corporations for seeds and agrochemicals, and lead to the loss of land and biodiversity.

“The emphasis on principal commodity crops, mechanized farming tools, and standardised land tenure systems condenses the practices into a uniform effort aimed at agro industrialization,” AFSA said in a report.

The “Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience” initiative was born out of a two-day summit held in January 2023 in Dakar, Senegal, where representatives of various African governments, the private sector, multilateral organizations, NGOs and scientists met to discuss pressing food issues on the continent. Rates of undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa are roughly at the same levels since 2005 figures, jumping after the COVID-19 pandemic, while a rapidly growing population is putting more pressure of food resources and production.

To address these challenges, the AfDB published agricultural development plans for 40 countries, known as country compacts, which are made up of concrete national policies, incentives and regulations to boost investments across the agricultural sector. Most of this financing would come from national governments and private sector partners, including seed companies, food giants such as Nestlé and Kellogg’s, as well as funds from the AfDB itself, amounting to $1.7 billion in 2022. This initiative is the latest itineration of big industrial agriculture solutions in Africa, which have a track record of failing on their own terms.

CONTINUE READING

The Trillion-Dollar Promise Of A Landscape Restoration Industry

/by

We all count on ecosystems — and the natural resources we extract from them — to provide humanity with what it needs to survive and thrive. From fertile soils to forests and raw materials underground, nature appears to be an endless fountain furnishing all that we eat, drink, wear, live in, buy and rely on for fuel.

Yet climate change, declining biodiversity, ecosystem destruction, land degradation and pollution threaten our global life support system, putting whole societies at risk. After 20 years of working in international nature conservation, I have concluded that long-term investment in holistic landscape management and restoration is the key to future-proofing our planet while creating sustainable livelihoods for communities.

“Holistic” is the key word here. There is no point in restoring one tributary of a polluted river without tackling the whole basin — the problem will only resurface, and the investment will be rendered futile. From a risk perspective, it’s essential to consider the entire living system rather than pulling it apart.

KEEP READING ON FORBES

Becoming a Holistic Management Educator

/by
Retraining My Brain

In March 2021, a group keen to find out more about Holistic Management came together at the Muresk Institute near Northam, Western Australia to begin their four-month course. Closed borders and no local educators meant the expansion of Holistic Management education in WA had come to a screeching halt two years earlier. Once Brian Wehlburg from Inside Outside Management was ‘allowed’ back into the state we enthusiastically engaged in what promised to be a challenging few months bending our minds around concepts like creating a Holistic Context to guide our decision making, which is applicable to anyone who makes decisions!

I soon realised that understanding the meaning of this ‘foreign’ language would unlock the fundamentals for everything else to make sense to me.  It was clear that managing holistically where we consider the environment, our social connections as well as our finances is complex and not something that adult humans are naturally good at doing or are raised to consider.

KEEP READING ON SAVORY INSTITUTE

On Your Farm – Regenerating Lives and Land

/by

The Apricot Centre in Devon is a farm which combines wellbeing and therapy with regenerative farming practices. Farmer Marina Brown O’Connell and her psychotherapist husband Mark O’Connell brought their livelihoods together to create a farm that not only helps regenerate the land, but regenerates lives too. Having adopted their children and brought them up on their farm, the pair saw first-hand how beneficial being in nature can be, and how the simple act of digging your hands into the soil can help you feel connected.

They’ve recently opened the farm up to asylum seekers, offering a space to farm the land, pick vegetables and cook together, creating a community and helping overcome trauma. They’ve also started training the next generation of regenerative farmers, as a means to pass on the land and skills they’ve accumulated over the years.

CONTINUE READING ON SOUNDS

Reflections From Debates on Regenerative, Organic, Agroecology

/by

Regenerative. Organic. Agroecology. Like any ecosystem—there is both mutality, collaboration and competition. Sorting out where there is mutuality, shared principles and purpose, and where there are conflicts and competition, was the task of several innovative debates and “fishbowl” discussions at the world’s largest organic food expo, BIOFACH. Some 40.000 companies, farmers, organizational leaders, researchers, and policy makers were gathered there.

I want to share some points from my input, speaking as board member at  IFOAM – Organics International, and some gold from debates:

Stand together

First, my “sense of the room (s)” was that we can all draw inspiration from each other. And above all, organic, agroecological and serious regenerative actors and movements must stand together. For together we are THE alternative and primary challenger to current degenerative food systems.

As a stand-alone term “Regenerative” begs the question: “which regenerative definition are we talking about? Syngentas? Bayers? Nestles? Or that of credible actors like Climate Farmers  or Regeneration International  ?” We must ask this question wherever “regenerative agriculture” is proposed as the solution. Just as we have with “Sustainable.” Andre Leu, International Director at Regeneration International has found one solution: “When uncertain if practices are regenerative or degenerative, we use the descriptions of organic principles of health, ecology, fairness and care.”

KEEP READING ON HOLMBECK ECO CONSULT

Understanding Why Regenerative Agriculture is the Fastest-Growing Green Theme

/by

Products with Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) are experiencing significant growth in today’s marketplace while sales linked to other sustainability certifications are decelerating.

According to the SPINS 2024 trends report, sustainability has not yet reached a tipping point for consumers. Shoppers still view sustainability as an optional “initiative” and not as an imperative movement.

Skepticism is also running rampant as consumers and regulators push back against the rising tide of companies utilizing unsubstantiated green claims, or “greenwashing,” to drive sales.

These factors, along with ongoing economic pressure, have triggered sales deceleration across many sustainability certified products in today’s marketplace.

Among labeling initiatives that continue to gain traction, however, Regenerative Organic Certification is the top performer.

But what’s behind this certification — and what makes it stand out?

KEEP READING ON THE FOOD INSTITUTE