How can farmers develop their own solutions?

Farmers draw on the knowledge and experience of generations to craft better lives and protect their environment. By drawing on their own creativity and scientific knowledge, they are able to improve farm yields while keeping the risk of crop failure. They keep debt low by using local resources and skills. In avoiding the use of external chemicals and technologies, they are able to safeguard soils, as well as plant and animal diversity, protecting future production.

Traditional methods can be just as productive, or even more productive, than taking an industrial approach. The farmers we work with are demonstrating this on a daily basis, and word is spreading. Our partners are showing their friends and neighbours how they practice organic, sustainable agriculture, showing that, with the right institutions and tools, the time-tested approach can help generate more food for families. The plant and animal breeding they do as part of this solution has created thousands of varieties and breeds that support biodiversity and our planet’s environment.

A Sense of Community
Farmers save only the best seeds from crops to plant the following season, which ensures the plants in their fields have been tested by time. They share seeds with neighbours to get the most suitable crops for their fields. They plant different varieties in different parts of their fields so that if any one crop fails, they still have food. By trading seeds for free, they avoid having to buy expensive, untested seeds each year.

Farmer-led sollutions are everywhere:

• They create simple irrigation systems to get the plants the water they need.
• They keep livestock as a source of food, fertilizer, and ploughing power.
• They rely on simple local technology like the wooden plough, guaranteeing the tools they need will always be available.
• They establish community seed banks to store seed and to provide a space for training and sharing knowledge.
• They set up credit circles to share funds, pooling income and providing loans to buy farming equipment, pay for education, etc.