Agricultura regenerativa: con el claro objetivo de regenerar el suelo y el entorno

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A partir de esta situación, varias empresas internacionales de alimentos están buscando alinearse con las exigencias del Pacto Verde Europeo, presentado en diciembre de 2019 por la Comisión Europea, y que busca impulsar medidas contra el cambio climático hacia el año 2030. Entre ellas, destaca la producción de alimentos bajo un manejo sustentable y regenerativo, que se preocupe de recuperar la salud del suelo. Se busca, de esta manera, reducir el uso de plaguicidas químicos en un 50% y de fertilizantes en un 20% con respecto al año 2020, aumentar la superficie cultivada en producción ecológica del actual 9% al 15% al 2030 y revertir la pérdida de biodiversidad.

El viraje internacional desde una agricultura convencional hacia una más sostenible llamó la atención de Antonio Gaete, asesor en producción orgánica y director de la empresa de I+D Sociedad Raíces, dedicada hace una década a buscar alternativas para una agricultura más sustentable en Chile y Perú. “Bajo ese concepto, todos nos tenemos que alinear en lo que el mercado está solicitando, que es una agricultura más regenerativa.

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Regenerative Agriculture Seen As Answer to Averting Africa’s Growing Food Crisis

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More than 65% of Africa’s land is considered degraded, and the risk of further desertification grows by the day. Crops now wither in the once fertile fields of northern Ghana, as prolonged droughts dry up water courses, while the mountain forests of Kenya, known as its “water towers”, have been stripped back and denuded by agriculture and logging. In Sudan, the arid climate and poor irrigation mean that more than 500,000 hectares are now affected by salinisation.

A vicious circle of unsustainable farming, which exacerbates climate change and leads to further extreme weather events, is behind the degradation of Africa’s soils. Western farming techniques, which may have yielded crops and vast profits for the last century or more, are now being found wanting, as more and more inputs are needed to repair soils that have become barren and eroded.

Livestock and poor soil management continue to increase agriculture’s carbon footprint, too. It is an environmental catastrophe that also brings human misery: according to the World Economic Forum, 228 million people in Africa face chronic hunger.

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Voces de mujeres del sur global en la COP 27 sobre soberanía alimentaria en el contexto del cambio climático

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Un grupo de mujeres de Abya Yala[1] elevó sus voces firmes y profundas, para hablar sobre la soberanía alimentaria en regiones tan distintas pero tan hermanadas como América y África en la COP 27 de Egipto el pasado 16 de noviembre de 2022, desde organizaciones como Regeneration International y OMANIAP.

En el auditorio Tutankamón del área verde de la cumbre climática, las potentes voces  femeninas reflexionaron sobre el impacto del cambio climático en las vidas de las mujeres desde sus comunidades, las consecuencias para la soberanía alimentaria, la importancia de las ciencias y tecnologías ancestrales, demandando políticas públicas para garantizar sus derechos, sus territorios, el agua, la biodiversidad, sus semillas y preservar sus alimentos tradicionales.

Fue así como Mercedes López, Directora de Vía Orgánica en la Ciudad de México inició la discusión en el panel hablando sobre la necesidad de que las comunidades opten por el concepto de soberanía alimentaria en lugar de seguridad alimentaria (usado por la FAO), debido a que el primero es más integral y prioriza los alimentos, semillas ancestrales, territorios y agua de los pueblos; la decisión y el derecho de alimentarse por generaciones con comida sana, local y de calidad;  el derecho a protegerse de importaciones agrícolas de mala calidad lejanas a su dieta tradicional; la participación de las comunidades en la definición de la política agraria; así como la dignificación y reconocimiento del trabajo de campesinas y campesinos que nos alimentan.

Mientras que, expuso, la seguridad alimentaria sólo se refiere a garantizar alimentación sin importar su procedencia, si se utilizaron agroquímicos y semillas transgénicas, o si son ultraprocesados; todo esto sin respetar ni considerar las costumbres y tradiciones alimentarias de las regiones.

Hizo énfasis en la labor comprometida e incansable de las mujeres en toda la cadena alimentaria, sin ser reconocidas ni valorarse su gran aporte en el tema.  También denunció que Coca cola y Nestlé estuvieran patrocinando la COP 27 cuando son empresas que han contribuido, con la priorización de la agricultura industrial, a calentar el planeta y a causar pandemias de obesidad y desnutrición a nivel global; además de contaminar el planeta con sus envases plásticos.

Por su parte, Precious Phiri, Coordinadora Africana de Regeneration International, indicó que el cambio climático está impactando fuertemente a las  mujeres del sur global, e hizo el señalamiento de que el término cambio climático no le parece suficientemente fuerte y que sería mejor hablar de emergencia climática, porque las consecuencias no sólo son económicas sino también sociales.

Indicó que es importante rebasar el concepto de seguridad alimentaria, porque con esa base grupos de donantes están empujando a que las comundidades tengan acceso a cualquier tipo de alimentación, a partir de su modelo de revolución verde impulsado por la agroindustria, sin atender la diversidad y especificidad de la alimentación entre las distintas comunidades.

Esto representa un desafío grande para que las comunidades campesinas y agricultoras que están presionadas para adoptar un modelo que les coloca en situaciones de inseguridad y la respuesta termina siendo superior al problema. Concluyó su participación comentando que la emergencia climática está creando una situación económica, ambiental y social muy grave y que afecta más a las mujeres que tienen el reto de alimentar a sus familias.

Mientras que Wilma Mendoza, Presidenta de la Confederación Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas de Bolivia (CNAMIB) contó cómo las mujeres indígenas han enfrentado las pérdidas y los transgénicos en agricultura, y cómo luchan para mantener su identidad, semillas y territorios.

Explicó que en Bolivia los temas de soberanía y seguridad alimentarias están incluidos en el Plan de Desarrollo, pero que en la realidad continúan favoreciéndose los monocultivos.

Dijo que las mujeres están trabajando y son más concientes sobre la necesidad de consumir alimentos propios sin agroquímicos ni transgénicos, que están cuidando y recuperando semillas,  buscando mantener el equilibrio, porque  son las más afectadas por sequías, inundaciones, heladas, plagas y la aparición de animales silvestres que han abandonado sus hábitas por la deforestación.

En su turno Mayra Macedo, Secretaria de Organización de la Organización Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas Andinas y Amazónicas del Perú (ONAMIAP) contó que las políticas públicas y los programas alimentarios en Perú, son inadecuadas y promueven monocultivos como palma aceitera y papaya, invadiendo sus tierras en la amazonía, destruyendo la selva y contaminándola.

Indicó que existen 2 programas sociales sobre alimentación centrales, el de desayunos escolares que es deficiente porque incluye alimentos y bebidas ultraprocesadas, que sólo benefician la economía de las empresas que venden estos productos y no a las comunidades.

El otro programa de apoyo es la entrega de alimentos de traspatio, como los cuyes, que no sobreviven en la región amazónica pues son de climas frios como los andes; por lo que criticó los programas sociales por su falta de visión y conocimiento de las comunidades.

Por ello hizo un llamado a que las mujeres ocupen espacios de toma de decisión donde se diseñen los programas sociales para recuperar su soberanía alimentaria desde los territorios y problemáticas específicas y para detener leyes que les afectan.

La siguiente expositora fue Melania Canales Poma, Lideresa del Pueblo Quechua y Coordinadora del Enlace Continental de Mujeres Indígenas de las Américas (ECMIA- Región Sur)  contó que las  mujeres indígenas exigimos garantías y respeto a territorios colectivos, documentando que por ejemplo, en Peru 49% del territorio está en manos de comunidades campesinas y nativas, pero las  tierras están siendo invadidas, están siendo despojadas de distintas formas legales y existe mucha preocupación.

Se cuestionó sobre dónde van a construir soberanía alimentaria las mujeres, si las despojan de sus territorios colectivos, por eso es importante revisar la situación jurídica de los territorios, demandó, para seguir produciendo nuestro alimento, nuestras medicinas ancestrales y fortaleciendo nuestra espiritualidad.

Hizo un recuento de la lucha de las mujeres indígenas quienes se han manifestado contra los transgénicos levantando su voz, así como defendiendo y  revitalizando los conocimientos, ciencia y tecnología ancestrales, que son determinantes para la adaptación al cambio climático, y que tienen que seguirse transmitiendo desde las mujeres indígenas.

Cerro su participación diciendo que las mujeres indígenas no sólo existen, sino que siempre han venido trabajando propuestas, exigiendo y demandando derechos y oponiéndose al machismo, extractivismo y despojo que las van ahogando.

La participación cerró con una serie de comentarios y preguntas por parte del público asistente, resumiendo la importancia de preservar las metodologías, conocimientos y ciencia indígena de las ancestras; de resistir la transculturación de alimentación y costumbres colonialistas adquiridas por la migración; exigiendo reconocimiento y visibilización de los aportes de las mujeres con pagos justos; organización en espacios bioculturales; así como preservando tradiciones ancestrales como la captación de agua de lluvia para enfrentar la escasez que está prevaleciendo en el mundo.

En conclusión, podemos decir que aunque este fue un espacio pequeño en medio de un mundo de side events, conferencias, manifestaciones culturales y discusiones de alto nivel y la presencia de comunidades diversas, que hermanó las voces fuertes, profundas y sabias de un grupo de mujeres que desde Abya Yala se organizan, luchan y proponen nuevas alternativas todos los días para defender la biodiversidad, las semillas, el territorio y la dignidad de las mujeres desde las comunidades diversas de todo el mundo.

[1] Abya Yala en idioma Kuna (Colombia y Panamá) significa  tierra vida, territorio, tierra en florecimiento. «Abia» significa «agujero de la sangre», «madre madura», «virgen madura», «tierra en plena madurez». El término es utilizado para nombrar al territorio comprendido en el Continente Americano.

Avances insuficientes: la COP27 desde el Comercio Justo

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Cada negociación multilateral sobre el modelo futuro de nuestro mundo, en un clima cambiante, supone una oportunidad para debatir sobre nuestro actual sistema económico, la causa de tantos problemas globales, desde la creciente degradación de nuestros ecosistemas, el cambio climático o la creciente desigualdad. Pero también es una oportunidad para demostrar que existen otros modelos económicos y comerciales que permiten avanzar hacia la justicia comercial, climática, de género y de recursos.

En este sentido, no podemos expresar nuestro pleno apoyo al Plan de Implementación de Sharm el-Sheikh, adoptado el pasado domingo 20 de noviembre en la COP27.

Aunque acogemos con satisfacción el importante avance del recién creado fondo para pérdidas y daños para apoyar a las comunidades afectadas por el clima, el Plan carece de medidas para una mitigación efectiva y, especialmente, no se ha tomado ninguna decisión sobre la eliminación progresiva de los combustibles fósiles.

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Wrapping Up COP27

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SHARM AL-SHEIKH – COP27 ends with an agreement for a “Loss and Damage” fund without any implementation plans or consensus to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, this means very little progress for solid recommendations for climate action and achieving net-zero emissions urged by the UNFCCC to avoid the catastrophic tipping points of a +1.5C warmer planet.

Sponsored by companies such as Coke, with a presidency held by a military government that severely represses its citizens (in a holiday resort far away from the realities of the Egyptian people) we were never going to expect much from the outcome of COP27 to shift the international community away from its business-as-usual pattern.

However there were some good works made by many.

Despite these circumstances, Regeneration International sent a small and dedicated delegation to COP27, where it joined forces with friends and partners such as AFSA, IPES-Food, IFOAM Organics International, SEKEM, ONAMIAP and the “4 per 1000” Initiative to advocate evidence and concrete examples of how agroecology, regenerative agriculture and indigenous agrobiodiversity (preserving traditional seeds) can reverse global warming and nourish communities. The management of soils, their organic matter, and their capacity to build back ecological stability, including sequestering carbon, must be in every negotiation and commitment since it is the hope we have for a livable planet.

Our team also had the chance to interview some light bearing figures in our movement; you can watch them by clicking on the links below.

Interview with Karen Mapusua, President of IFOAM Organics International at COP27

Meet our dear friend Karen Mapusua, President of IFOAM – Organics International, promoting agroecology and regenerative organic food systems as a way to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Interview with AFSA’s Bridget Mugambe at COP27

RI’s Africa Coordinator Precious Phiri and Bridget Mugambe of AFSA (Alliance of Food Sovereignty in Africa) and gain insight into Africa’s most prominent civil society and their actions to regenerate the climate emergency through agroecology. 

Interview with Uganda Parliament Member Kayaa Christine Nakimwero at COP27

Watch our interview with Kayaa Christine Nakimwero, a member of Parliament in Uganda who is campaigning for seed sovereignty to ensure climate resiliency and food security in Africa.

RI was also an official partner of the Future Economy Forum organized by SEKEM. Together with many other partners and friends, we formed the regenerative movement’s most significant gathering since RI’s congregation in 2015 at COP21 in Paris. A series of dialogues and events offered a space for the regeneration movement to merge our strengths, strategies, and ideas and move forward together for regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration.

 For the first time in COP history, Agriculture and food systems were highlighted as a top priority. With the UNFCCC’s Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture implementing plans for climate action through agriculture and the COP hosting more than 200 side events on food and agriculture, the momentum for food and farming is there to stay. Yet, much of the COP misused the term regenerative, and very few side events promoted anything but regenerative and agroecological practices. GMOs, lab meat, and no-till glyphosate-drenched practices were on the menu of most side events, with the Food Systems Pavilion opening with pro-GMO/industry rhetoric from various members of AGRA and other green revolution advocates. 

 RI participated in several side events, including the “4 per 1000” High-Level Segment promoting tangible and shovel-ready regenerative practices such as holistic planned grazing and regenerative agroforestry via our Billion Agave Project. Our presence was all the most important and has allowed us to unite with our partners in preparation for COP28 to aggregate the true policymakers, scientists, advocates, and practitioners of change to form an ironclad alliance with our partners. 

 

Being in South Sinai, our COP delegation took the opportunity to visit the Habiba Community, located only a few hour’s drive from the COP negotiations. Deeply integrated into the Bedouin cultural landscape, this organic farm is empowering women and training hundreds of small hold farmers across 75 farms to adapt and mitigate climate change using regenerative practices. 

 

Despite the many circus like confusion that went together with hosting a COP in a place for the World’s rich, we are glad we were there, together with our allies. There is still a lot of ground to be covered, we need more and more civil society representatives in the negotiation rooms. We need to get in touch with country-based negotiators so that we can also influence the outcomes of these negotiations. As earlier stated, we look forward to the next COP, this time with much bigger numbers from our movement. It is needed. 

Lo que está en juego para América Latina por los graves daños y pérdidas del desafío climático

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¿Qué responsabilidad tienen los países ricos, que emitieron grandes cantidades de gases de invernadero para desarrollar sus economías, hacia los países en desarrollo azotados por el cambio climático?

La pregunta está en el corazón de las discusiones sobre “pérdidas y daños“, uno de los temas más espinosos de la cumbre de cambio climático, la COP 27, que se celebra hasta el 18 de noviembre en Egipto.

Los fondos que los países pobres piden por “pérdidas y daños” no son lo mismo que la ayuda para adaptación. “Daños” se refiere, por ejemplo, a cosechas destruidas que eventualmente pueden volver a plantarse. “Pérdidas” alude a lo que ya no puede recuperarse como el derretimiento de un glaciar.

BBC Mundo habló sobre este y otros temas de la cumbre climática con Ana Villalobos, jefa de la delegación negociadora de Costa Rica en la COP 27.

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It All Hinges on the Herders’: World’s Largest Soil Carbon Removal Project Enlists Kenyan Pastoralists

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When Andrew Dokhole, a community leader in Isiolo, northern Kenya, took on the task of explaining a proposed soil carbon removal project a decade ago, he had to convince largely illiterate people about the benefits of a “foreign” concept.

“Our people didn’t know what carbon was,” says Dokhole. “There is no word for carbon in our local language, not even in Swahili, the national language. Yet the success of the project depended on the pastoralists understanding how the concept works and how it would affect their daily activities.”

Dokhole had done his research. He understood all the nuances of carbon sequestration – the capturing, removal and storage of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) – so he settled on some vivid illustrations to reach people.

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Cop27 Climate Talks: What Succeeded, What Failed and What’s Next

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The 27th United Nations climate conference (COP27) ended on Sunday morning with researchers largely frustrated at the lack of any ambition to phase out fossil fuels.

However, there was one silver lining: delegates from low and middle income countries (LMICs) came away with an agreement on a new ‘loss and damage’ fund to help them cover the costs of climate-change impacts.

The final 10-page summary text, which was agreed on 20 November, says that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels requires “rapid, deep and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions” by 2030.

But calls to phase out fossil fuels were blocked by oil-producing states, and some delegates struggled to find reasons to be cheerful at the glacial pace of decarbonization. Many blamed the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for a lack of progress on fossil fuels.

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Actividad ganadera en la Ciudad de México requiere prácticas que eviten deterioro ambiental

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Cada vez es mayor la presión demográfica en la Ciudad de México (CDMX), razón por la cual es de suma importancia regular las actividades agropecuarias que se realizan en la metrópoli para cuidar su suelo de conservación y las áreas naturales protegidas, pues brindan a la población importantes servicios ecosistémicos, consideraron los investigadores de la Facultad de Estudios Superiores (FES) Cuautitlán de la UNAM, Juan Carlos Escobedo Alcántara y Elein Hernández Trujillo.

Escobedo Alcántara, también asesor de la Sociedad Alemana para la Cooperación Internacional (GIZ, por sus siglas en alemán), señaló que en la capital de la República mexicana habitan cerca de nueve millones de personas, mientras que en la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México aproximadamente 27 millones, por lo que la ganadería es un sector importante a fin de producir alimentos para esta zona demográfica.

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The Distorted Lies About Sri Lanka’s Organic Pathway

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Recently there have been a series of articles stating that Sri Lanka’s economic chaos was caused by the government forcing the country to go organic.

These articles’ familiar false narratives, untruths, and language style show that they were written by spin doctors from a PR company employed by pesticide/big agriculture cartels. They were cut and pasted by poor-quality journalists who did not fact-check.

The narrative was that the government forced farmers to become organic by banning chemical fertilizers.  This caused crop failures and food shortages which caused the riots, causing economic chaos.

This is a distortion of the truth by falsely connecting the dots. The economic chaos was not caused by the country going organic, as it hadn’t gone organic. The government was only planning to do so in the future.

Sri Lanka’s Economic Troubles

Sri Lanka was in severe economic trouble due to the build-up of financial debt caused by a combination of factors that began with the crippling financial drain, infrastructure damage, and social disruption of the decades-long civil war.  The crisis was exacerbated in April 2019 due to church suicide bombings destroying the international based tourism industry, which was a significant provider of foreign currency for the country.  The value of its currency fell and made it more expensive for industry and the government to import essential goods such as fuel.

On top of this, tax cuts in 2019 reduced government revenue and deepened that country’s national debt. The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic decimated the tourism industry. All these factors caused a significant increase in inflation, contributing to shortages of food and essential goods and increasing food insecurity in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was in severe economic and social trouble by the beginning of 2021.

The Import and Export Control Department banned the importation of chemical fertilizers on April 27, 2021, because they contributed over $400 million to the trade deficit. This was the start of a range of measures that would be proposed to create an economic recovery.

The following month on May 10, 2021, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave a directive to form the Presidential Task Force for creating a Green Sri Lanka with Sustainable Solutions for Climate Change. This Task Force had the aim to turn Sri Lanka into a world leader in “the benefits that could be derived nationally and internationally by the launch of a programme for improving biodiversity in Sri Lanka and eco-friendly houses by utilization of organic and natural fertilizer and the potential for sustainable development by minimizing climate changes and through a green economy.”

Organic Agriculture was not the Cause of Sri Lanka’s Economic Chaos.

The ban on chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals was not to turn Sri Lanka into an organic country; it was to reduce Sri Lanka’s crippling national debt. A presidential task force was formed to develop a green, climate change-resilient economy of which organic agriculture was one aspect.

Sir Lanka never implemented a national organic transition program, so the campaign to blame the collapse of its economy on organic agriculture is pure misinformation based on a series of lies fed by a PR company to poor-quality journalists who did not fact-check.

The economic chaos, not the decline in rice yields, was the cause of the riots. The traditional withholding of rice stocks and the artificial increases of prices that the rice miller oligarchies do every year after the primary harvest season created artificial shortages that contributed to the riots. Other contributing factors were the result of fuel and essential items shortages and excessive inflation, making everything more expensive and unaffordable.

Transitioning to Organic

The sudden reduction of fertilizer caused a decline in rice production. However, this was not because the country went organic. It takes three years to transition a farm to organic and decades to transition a country or region, as in the cases of the successful transitions of Bhutan and Sikkim. Just stopping chemical fertilizers does not make a farm organic.

The national and international organic sectors advised the Sri Lankan Government against doing this because it would lead to a sudden drop in yields. We develop plans to manage the transition to organic and advise against the sudden cessation of fertilizers and agrochemicals for this reason. A plan was never developed for Sri Lanka, although a few proposals were started to begin the process that would require decades to implement.

Organic agriculture is not a system of neglect. Stopping chemical fertilizers and toxic agrochemicals do not make a farm organic. Organic agriculture has a variety of management systems to increase soil fertility and effectively manage weeds, pests, and diseases. These take years to develop, requiring three years to get organic certification.

Higher Yields with Organic Agriculture

Transitioning to organic does not have to decrease yields. Best practice organic systems are getting equal to higher yields than industrial and agricultural systems, especially in developing countries like Sri Lanka.

Noémi Nemes from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) analyzed over 50 economic studies. She stated that the data: ‘… demonstrates that, in most cases, organic systems are more profitable than non-organic systems. Higher market prices and premiums, lower production costs, or a combination of the two generally result in higher relative profits from organic agriculture in developed countries. The same conclusion can be drawn from studies in developing countries, but there, higher yields combined with high premiums are the underlying causes of their relatively greater profitability.’

The critical issue here is that organic agriculture provides a higher income and higher yields in developing countries. Significant increases in yields can be achieved by teaching farmers to add science-based regenerative and organic practices to their traditional methods by adopting:

  • Better soil nutrition through recycling soil organic matter (SOM) and correct mineral balance
  • Improved pest and disease management
  • Water use efficiency – by increasing soil organic matter
  • Better weed management methods
  • Eco-function intensification: increasing the diversity of systems

A report by the United National Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that reviewed 114 projects covering 2 million hectares and 1.9 million farmers found that organic agriculture increases yields in Africa. ‘…the average crop yield was … 116 percent increase for all African projects and 128 percent increase for the projects in East Africa.’

Increases in Rice Production

Rice is the most important staple food crop in Sri Lanka. There is ample evidence that rice production and profitability can increase with regenerative and organic agriculture based on the science of agroecology.

A research project conducted in the Philippines by MASIPAG found that the yields of organic rice were similar to industrial systems. Very significantly, the research project compared the income between similar-sized industrial and organic farms and found that the average income for organic farms was 23,599 Pesos compared to 15,643 Pesos for industrial farms.

While the rice yields are similar, the most significant information that came from this study was when the average family living expenses were deducted from the net income. It showed that at the end of the year, on average, the organic rice farmers had a surplus income of 5,967 pesos, whereas the industrial rice farmers had a loss of 4,546 pesos.

The improvements in the science and practices of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) using regenerative and organic systems are getting impressive yields higher than the average.

Professor Uphoff from Cornell University states: “SRI methods have often enabled poor farmers to double, triple, or even quadruple their yields, not just individually but on a village level, without purchasing new varieties or agrochemical inputs.”

The Future

The new Sri Lankan Government is working with their national organic movement to develop a plan to implement organic agriculture. The national organic movement is in contact with the organic program managers in Bhutan, who have successfully transitioned most of their country into organic agriculture.

The transition program is essential because of the current exceptionally high prices for synthetic fertilizers and the poor exchange value of the Sri Lankan currency; most farmers cannot afford these fertilizers. They are going into deep debt when they use them or have reduced yields by not using them because they haven’t been taught effective alternatives.

Adopting best-practice organic and regenerative systems based on the science of agroecology will ensure good yields and higher incomes for farmers without these expensive and toxic chemicals.

Regeneration International will continue supporting the Sri Lankan organic movement in achieving this critical outcome.