In the Gambia, Building Resilience to a Changing Climate

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Published: February 6, 2018

UN Environment will implement the largest natural resource development project in the history of The Gambia to help the West African nation tackle climate change impacts and restore degraded forests, farmland and coastal zones.

Funded by a $20.5 million Green Climate Fund (GCF) grant and $5 million from the Government of the Gambia, the “Large-scale Ecosystem-based Adaptation Project in The Gambia” (EbA) was launched in January in the capital Banjul.

“This project is the single-largest natural resource development project ever launched in the history of the development of this country and funded by the GCF”, Lamin Dibba, The Gambia’s Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, told fellow ministers, representatives from the UN and GCF and other stakeholders present at the launch.

Minister Dibba said the project was designed to build the climate resilience of Gambian people made increasingly vulnerable by a loss of soil fertility and agricultural productivity due to environmental degradation, more frequent and severe droughts and rising sea levels.

“The livelihoods of [the] majority of rural Gambians are eroding as a result of the degrading environment and the country’s dwindling natural resource base, on which most of these communities depend for their survival,” he said.

“The EbA project shall rehabilitate up to 10,000 hectares of degraded forest and wildlife parks through reforestation, enrichment planting, conservation of rare or endangered species as well as the restoration of 3,000 hectares of abandoned and marginal agricultural lands”, he added.

The six-year project should directly benefit up to 11,550 Gambian households and potentially reach a further 46,200 households indirectly. The beneficiaries will be spread across four target regions lying along The Gambia River in a small country of seven regions, and over half of them will be women.

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What’s the Future of Farming? It Can Only Be Agroecology, Says Farms of the Future

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Author: Niamh Michail | Published: August 1, 2017

Think of agriculture of the future and you may conjure up images of hydroponic lettuces grown in underground, urban bunkers or massive-scale precision farming using satellites and drones. But for campaign group Farms of the Future, the future is, and can only be, agroecology.

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Agroecology to the Rescue: 7 Ways Ecologists are Working Toward Healthier Food Systems

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Author: Marcia DeLonge | Published: August 2, 2017

A lot has been written about agroecology, and a new special issue of the journal Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems takes it to the next level.

The new issue, entitled Agroecology: building an ecological knowledge-base for food system sustainability, expands the conversation by outlining recent progress in ecology relevant for tackling food system challenges ranging from disappearing diversity to water woes to climate catastrophes. Together, the eight included articles demonstrate a range of emerging science-based opportunities that can help farmers and ranchers achieve the triple bottom line: social, environmental, and financial sustainability.  Here are just the highlights of what some farm-focused ecologists have been up to:

  1. Making sense out of complexity: Agroecosystems are complex, and as Vandermeer and Perfecto (2017) explain, “the fundamental rules of natural systems should be used as guidelines for planning and management of agricultural systems.” Fortunately, ecologists have developed some great tools (tools in topics like Turing patterns, chaotic dynamics, and more) that are up to the otherwise daunting task, and agroecologists are busy beginning to put them to work.
  2. Linking biodiversity to farming benefits: Decisions about how land is used at a regional scale can affect farming conditions at a surprisingly smaller scale, influencing even the pollinators and insect pests that are too small to spot unless you’re actually strolling through a field. As Liere et al. (2017) describe, understanding the connections between biodiversity at these different scales is essential to sustaining healthy, multi-functional agricultural systems. Agroecologists have just scratched the surface of investigating these “cascading” effects, and the subject is ripe for more discoveries.
  3. Keeping nutrients where we need them: It’s hard work keeping enough nutrients in some places (such as soils and plants) and reducing them in others (like in lakes and the atmosphere), but getting this right is a key to growing enough food while protecting the environment. Agroecologists tackle these problems with a bird’s eye view, measuring and evaluating everything from study plots to farm fields to watersheds. As Tully & Ryals (2017)note, this approach is critical to finding ways to optimize solutions (such as agroforestry, cover cropping, and organic amendments, just to name a few).
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Consumers Paying for ‘Fair Treatment of Workers, Animals, and Land’

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Author: Brian Frederick | Published: February 2018

Jeff Moyer is the Executive Director of Rodale Institute, an independent research institute for organic farming. For decades, Moyer has helped develop new techniques and invent new tools to support organic methods.

The Rodale Institute was founded in 1947 in Kutztown, PA by J.I. Rodale. Inspired by the nitrogen fertilizer shortages during World War II, Rodale wanted to develop practical methods of rebuilding soil fertility. Today, the institute focuses particularly on compost, soil health, weed and pest management, livestock operations, organic certification, wastewater treatment, and climate change. It is home to the longest running comparative study of organic and chemical agriculture, started in 1981.

Moyer is well known for inventing and popularizing the No Till Roller Crimper, a device for weed management. He is a past chair of the National Organic Standards Board, a founding board member of Pennsylvania Certified Organic, the Chairman of the Board of Director of The Seed Farm, a member of the Green America Non-GMO Working Group, a Project Member of The Noble Foundation’s Soil Renaissance project, and a Board Member of PA Farm Link. Moyer has been with the Rodale Institute for over 40 years.

Food Tank had the opportunity to talk with Jeff Moyer about organic farming and the future of agriculture.

Food Tank (FT): What is the No Till Roller Crimper and how has it changed farming?

Jeff Moyer (JM): The No Till Roller Crimper is used to terminate and suppress weed growth rather than using toxic chemicals. By doing so, farmers are able to delay termination by several weeks, increasing biomass production, resulting in greater nitrogen fixation, and accumulating more soil organic matter. This practice has allowed for farmers to integrate cover crops in their production systems, save money, and improve soil structure.

Research to determine which cover crops to grow with cash crops and having precise timing is crucial to the No Till Roller Crimper system. The concept can work for farms all around the world, but the timing is different in distant countries.

Although the No Till Roller Crimper has changed both conventional farming and organic farming, this tool allows for a faster process for farmers who wish to transition from conventional to organic production. At Rodale Institute, we encourage the reduction of tillage to improve soil health, and the No Till Roller Crimper has aided in that process.

FT: What are the biggest challenges organic farming faces?

JM: One of the biggest challenges organic farming faces is brand equity and trust in the marketplace. The consumer wants to be able to trust the background procedures of the organic food industry and assure their target in the improvement of personal and environmental health, not just the marketing of their brand. Consumers are paying for fair treatment of workers, animals, and land, not just the seal of organically certified.

It is important that the values beyond the production of the produce outweigh the value of the food product itself, a focus on soil health and the environment, rather than a larger yield. The overall goal is to feed the world for thousands of years, not just the present time. Through organic agriculture, this can be made possible, while continuing to focus on environmental concerns.

It is necessary for a shift in policy decisions for this to become a universal standard. Integrating stricter policy can lead to further research into scientific data of organic farming and the benefits thereof. For example, a cow can be fed organically, and be considered organic certified, but the treatment of this animal can be so inhumane, a person would not support the organic label itself.

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Drought-Stricken Texans Turn to Cows to Save Their Farms

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Authors: Ginger Zee, David Miller, Kelly Harold, Olivia Smith, and Andrea Miller | Published: February 6, 2018

How does a cattle farmer from Texas withstand a drought? In the summer of 2011 as oppressive heat and drought hit Texas, grasses were dying and cows were running out of food to eat. To save their cattle, ranchers were forced to truck their cows to fields of healthy grass.

But as several farms were turning to dust, cattle rancher Jon Taggart of Grandview, Texas, continued run his business.

“I’m proud to say that we harvested cattle every week of the year through that entire drought,” he told ABC News.

How did Taggart stay open while other farmers were struggling?

“The reason was because we planted those deep-rooted native grasses that were designed by somebody a lot bigger than us to survive those droughts,” he said.

Taggart has been raising grass-fed and grass-finished beef since 1999 and owns three stores in Texas called Burgundy Pasture Beef.

While most beef that is sold in stores is finished on grain to fatten them up, Taggart and a small but growing number of farmers are feeding their cows grass exclusively for their whole lives.

That makes the grass as important to the farm as the cows themselves.

“We want an extremely diversified plant population: warm season grasses; cool season grasses; grasses that germinate early; grasses that germinate later.”

That diversity of grass has kept Taggart’s soil healthy even as Texas faces droughts. The grasses ability to hold on to water when it rains has helped keep his farm healthy.

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Changing Weather Patterns Throwing Ecosystems Out of Whack

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Day and night will soon align, marking the start of spring. But the timing of nature’s calendar is starting to fall out of sync.

Author: University of South Florida | Published: February 5, 2018

In a study published in Nature Climate Change, a team of researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa found that animal species are shifting the timing of their seasonal activities, also known as phenology, at different rates in response to changing seasonal temperatures and precipitation patterns.

“As species’ lifecycles grow out of alignment, it can affect the functioning of ecosystems with potential impacts on human food supplies and diseases,” said lead author Jeremy Cohen, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at the University of South Florida Department of Integrative Biology. “We rely on honeybees to pollinate seasonal crops and migratory birds to return in the spring to eat insects that are crop pests and vectors of human diseases. If the timing of these and other seasonal events are off, ecosystems can malfunction with potentially adverse effects on humans.”

 

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Could Soils Help Save the Climate?

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Soils are a double-edged climate sword. They are huge reservoirs of organic carbon and can act as a carbon sink. But they can also release CO2 into the atmosphere when used unsustainably.

Author: Irene Banos Ruiz | Published: February 6, 2018

Forests are often called the lungs of the planet because of the way they “breathe” in carbon dioxide. The role they play in locking in carbon dioxide is so essential UN schemes promote forests conservation as a way to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Soils, meanwhile — less beautiful, and oft forgotten beneath our feet — get less press. Yet they hold 70 percent of the planet’s land-based carbon — four times as much as all the world’s biomass and three times the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Agriculture is responsible for around 13 of global greenhouse gas emissions. But if farms managed their soils more sustainably, they could lower that share considerably, scientists say.

And not only would they emit less greenhouse gases — as carbon reservoirs, agricultural soils could even mop up carbon already in the atmosphere. And that’s a win-win situation because once in the soil, carbon fertilizes plants, boosting agricultural yields.

Carbon – a valuable resource

Plants absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Some is released back into the atmosphere and some is stored in plant matter. When that biomass is broken down by microorganisms in the soil, it becomes an organic material called humus, which nourishes plants and other organisms, conserves water and balances the soil’s pH level.

“This carbon is like the fuel for any soil,” Ronald Vargas, soils and land officer at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told DW.

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This New Denim Label Is Paving the Way for Sustainable Fashion in Copenhagen

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Author: Brooke Bobb | Published: February 1, 2018

While the word organic has become commonplace in American dialogue—whether it’s used to describe vegetables, face creams, or cotton—surprisingly, it’s a relatively up-and-coming stamp of approval in Denmark. The city of Copenhagen is suddenly bursting with new organic restaurants, skincare companies, and now, fashion labels. One such brand leading the charge is Blanche, a new line of eco-conscious denim that was launched in August 2017 by fashion natives Mette Fredin and Melissa Bech. Fredin is the creative director, and Bech, the commercial director, but they work in tandem on everything, including design, marketing, and branding. While Blanche does include ready-to-wear and some cool logo merch, the jeans are the sweet spot. Everything is made locally in Copenhagen using Global Organic Textile Standard–approved fabric and deadstock fabric. Prices for the wide range of denim run from around $150 to $216, and, at the moment, Blanche is only available in select Scandinavian retailers. Bech and Fredin are expanding quickly, however, and they say expansion into the U.S. and the rest of Europe will come soon.

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Connecting Through Food

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Author: Nigel McNay | Published: January 27, 2018

A greater profile for the wide-ranging benefits of regenerative agriculture is what a Stanley woman hopes will flow from her recognition in a national awards program.

Jade Miles has been announced as one of three finalists in the Victorian Rural Women’s Award.

The award is part of a wider program, with the Victorian winner to be named at Melbourne Museum on March 20 going on to the national award ceremony in Canberra in September.

Ms Miles said that to be nominated “really is incredible” and “actually a bit of a surprise”.

“More than anything it allows you to know that the work that you’re doing is understood and it reads with people,” she said.

“What it does is provide an opportunity where people are starting to actually listen to what your message is.

“Because mine is around regenerative agriculture and local food systems, it’s not one that usually gets a very loud voice.”

Ms Miles’ nomination outlined how she wanted to share her learnings from developing a community-owned regional food co-operative and to build a social enterprise-based model that could be rolled out in other regions.

She and her husband, Charlie Showers, and their three children live at Black Barn Farm, which they plan on becoming a regenerative and diverse orchard, nursery and learning space.

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Healthy Soil and Regenerative Farming as Major Food System Solutions

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Author: Sammy Blair | Published: February 2018

Lauren Tucker, Executive Director of Kiss the Ground, will be speaking at the Washington D.C. Food Tank Summit, “Cultivating the Next Generation of Young Food Leaders,” which will be held in partnership with George Washington University, World Resources Institute, the National Farmers Union, Future Farmers of America, and the National Young Farmers Coalition on February 28, 2018

Initially the manager of their local garden, Tucker is now the Executive Director of Kiss the Ground, a non-profit striving to combat climate change by cultivating healthy soil to sequester carbon in the atmosphere. Kiss the Ground focuses on public engagement through media and educational curriculum, and works to help farmers build healthy soil.

Growing up in rural West Virginia surrounded by conventional corn and soy fields, Tucker realized that despite being surrounded by an agrarian community,  people in the United States were disconnected from their land. She was inspired to help people and the planet and has spent her adult life learning about and sharing the connection between humans and the earth we live on.

Tucker graduated with a B.A. from the Honors program at American University in Psychology and International Studies, and then became a UC Master Gardener and earned her Permaculture Design Certificate. Tucker has extensive experience working with national and international non-profits, including Green Light New Orleans and Angel Flight West, and has worked as a chef and organizer for local farm dinners.

Food Tank spoke with Lauren about the importance of soil health, regenerative farming, and how consumer knowledge of our food system can help solve environmental and human health crises.

Food Tank (FT): What originally inspired you to get involved in your work?

Lauren Tucker (LT): I started studying nutrition and then realized that nutrition is so much more than the right mix of minerals, proteins, carbs and fats. I discovered that soil and how we grow food is the basis for nutrition. Along the way I met Ryland Engelhart and Finian Makepeace, Kiss the Ground co-founders, who were inspired by healthy soil and plants’ potential to draw carbon out of the atmosphere. Healthy soils and regenerative farming have become my full passion as they provide a solution to global warming human health.

FT: How are you helping to build a better food system?

LT: We create educational materials (films, book, social media, and middle school curriculum) on soil as a carbon sequestration solution. We also raise money for farmer training and work with businesses to invest in healthy soils in their supply chains. Everything we do is helping to achieve our mission: to inspire participation in the global movement to restore soils.

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