Kashmir's Lotus Stems Rise Again

Three biointensive mini-farms in the US are teaching small-scale farmers from throughout the world how to grow more food through sustainable practices that focus on using less water and land. After bringing these farmers onto the US farms to learn the methods through a hands-on approach, the farmers then return to their home countries to implement and encourage the biointensive practices.

Bayero University Center for Dryland Agriculture’s Tissue Culture Lab empowers local farmers with advanced research and technology to adapt to climate change and increase food security and nutrition. So far, 22 communities have benefited from the Lab’s expertise, leading to increased food production and fewer health problems caused by inadequate diets.

Humus farming is a technique that doesn’t harm the soil or organisms living in it but instead nourishes it, thus making it more sustainable for long-term use. Humus farming and other climate change mitigation tactics to revive soil and make it healthy and usable are spreading across Europe.

By reviving millet farming, farming communities are adapting to climate change. In India, the Millet Farmers Group, organized by a women’s rights nonprofit, the North East Network (NEN), helps farmers cultivate millet, an ancient grain that is less water-intensive than white rice. NEN Nagaland helps farmers from around the Nagaland district share knowledge about growing millet and obtain the necessary machinery to dehusk the grain.

The use of local and native pollinators can greatly increase farm productivity. In the region of Sosorgon, in the Philippines, farmers who have begun using the local kiwot bees to pollinate coconut farms have noted significant increases in their yields. The Balay Buhau sa Uma Bee Farm (BBu) serves as a demo farm for the broader beeping project in the municipality of Bulusan, which aims to help farmers earn more in a sustainable fashion. This includes encouraging courses in apiculture and the use of affordable, low maintenance hives.

By using new technology and shared knowledge, the Dutch have become global leaders in agricultural innovation and solutions to fight famine. Work being done at Wageningen University & Research has allowed farmers in the Netherlands to grow crops year-round and in all kinds of weather, while eliminating the use of chemical pesticides and reducing the dependence on water by as much as 90 percent at some farms. Exporting these techniques to other countries has its challenges, but international graduate students are working to implement these programs in their home regions to help people experiencing hunger.

Malawian farmers have been hit hard by climate change over the last two farming seasons, and have thus seen a drop in agricultural production. To combat these losses, agriculture experts have begun implementing climate-smart farming practices that allow them to "sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience (adaptation), reduce greenhouse gas emissions where possible, and help with achievement of national food security and development goals" according to the Food and Agricultural Organization.

As a response to a growing population, farmers have begun encroaching into Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to expand their crop yield. This creates a problem for the endangered great apes that live there, however, as it depletes their food, water and shelter resources. One non-profit is trying to change this landscape by improving farming practices with new seed varieties.

The Viet Nam Farmers Union rolled out a train-the-trainer program focused on encouraging rice farmers in Vietnam to take up more sustainable practices. This style of training helps farmers overcome any hesitation towards trying new methods by allowing them to learn from their peers and see the success of demonstration plots.

After they were socially, economically, and politically forced from their agricultural land, the people who have used regenerative farming principles for millennia are reimplementing the practice in their communities. This allows them to improve soil health and reconnect with the land.