Growing together: Mansfield microfarm cooperative heads into second year

As gentrification has flourished and Baby Boomers age out of the workforce, “legacy businesses” struggle to find a way to maintain a presence in communities of color. In response, a multi-city fellowship called Shared Equity in Economic Development (SEED) was developed to educate business owners on transferring ownership to the employees to ensure its future. Four cities—Philadelphia, Atlanta, Durham, and Miami— paired three city employees with one community member to work together over a two year period to leave the city with “clear plans, clear roles and good foundations for future business conversions."

For the past three years, water levels in the San Antonio Edwards Aquifer have decreased to uncomfortable levels and drought periods may continue as the population booms. The San Antonio Water System organization has set up rules to limit water use and has recycled water for conservation frugal innovation.

The Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS) is a digital platform that traces cocoa beans from individual farm plots to export ports. The system uses GPS mapping, barcode-labeling, and mobile data capture to register farmers with unique digital IDs and document their production. This creates transparency in the supply chain and connects farmers directly to purchasing systems, payment mechanisms, and agricultural support services. In the pilot phase, the system successfully mapped over 40,000 farms and registered more than 20,000 farmers, 40% being women.

Conexsus provides financial, technical, and mentorship support to cooperatives and small producers in the Amazon rainforest with the goal of shifting investment and resources to sustainable “bioeconomies” often managed by Indigenous communities. One such cooperative, Coopatrans, has been able to improve its relationships with farmers thanks to credit from Conexsus assuring payments can be made on time.

The Community Interest Company, run by volunteers, organized the Chiswick Flower Market to revitalize the local economy. The eight flower markets that were held increased foot-traffic to local businesses by about 70% compared to non-market Sundays. Of the over 60 vendors, 65% were based locally. The market made a £12,000 profit, which is being reinvested in community sustainability projects. Sustainability and reducing the market’s carbon footprint are priority initiatives.

Despite the lockdown and loss of tourism income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the village of Kohonoma in India has been able to maintain a high level of food security for its people. Because of previous legal changes and grant money, villagers were able to change their lifestyle to support the community’s tourism industry and preserve its sustainable agriculture practices. Village leaders are hopeful that their conservation and sustainable development efforts will continue post-pandemic and will encourage other communities to do the same.

San Francisco is using technology to calculate the cost of parking throughout the city, depending on the demand in specific neighborhoods at any given time. While critics were wary of the effect flexible pricing would have on lower-income residents, the pilot program resulted in lower parking costs on average and demonstrated that flexible pricing could promote equity. In other cities around the world, flexible pricing systems implemented through the use of technology have been effective in raising revenue from higher-income people and neighborhoods to reduce prices and reinvest in equitable solutions.

In London, two community-driven initiatives are working side by side to engage residents in sustainable practices. Energy Garden, a community energy cooperative, has created green spaces in rail stations offers residents community gardens, nature education, and solar power. Repower, the other initiative, works with residents to communally invest in renewable energy for low-income neighborhoods while also providing those neighborhoods with energy jobs and mentoring services.

Families living in the wetlands of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya are working together with a nonprofit called Ecofinder Kenya to protect and conserve the wetlands they live on. The crux of the incentive centers around the Eocfinder toilet, which converts human and animal waste to biogas, but they also work with solar lamps, water pumps, and a "farmer-to-farmer" program in which farmers share environmentally-friendly expertise. The program has been going on for 3 years now, and the wetlands have since seen a return of wildlife and growth, particularly with fish and birds.

The Indonesian government is working with family farmers in Borneo to spread the cultivation of sago crops, which requires the restoration of the country's historic, boggy swamps. This type of agriculture, called paludiculture, makes the lands less prone to devastating wildfires, protects residents' health, reduces CO2 emissions, and offers a long-term farming solution.