To get young Filipinos into farming, initiatives reach them via TikTok, school

In an effort to protect and promote Nepal’s local, or traditional, crops, the Raithane Koseli Ghar initiative gathers and sells the hard-to-find seeds. The initiative also provides support and education to farmers looking to grow them.

Tiny Farms is making agriculture more accessible to people in Germany by allowing those interested in part-time farming to rent land for micro-farms that supply food locally. The company also gives farmers access to training, cultivation programs, seeds, and takes care of transport and organic certification.

Farmers in North Carolina are turning to tropical crops like taro to diversify farming and become more resilient to climate change. But, to sell taro consumers have to know how to cook it, so the Utopian Seed Project provides information for farmers and chefs on how to do just that.

A high school in Jackson, Mississippi, hosts the Academy of Natural Resource Utilization in which students grow produce in greenhouses, sell it at farmers markets, and make food products like salsa. The academy is an effort to educate youth on gardening and combat food insecurity in the community.

A collaborative network of farms and organizations is preserving Palestinian heirloom crops by cultivating them in diaspora communities across the United States. The network propagates traditional varieties like mulukhiyah, kousa squash, and Gaza peppers while organizing community gatherings where Palestinian diaspora members can reconnect with these plants through hands-on cultivation and traditional food preparation.

A Catholic covenant in India, Helpers of Mount Rosary, promotes organic farming to locals and visitors from across the country on 40 acres of farming and training fields.

With technical and financial support from various organizations, farmers in Nepal are transitioning to organic manure and natural insecticides to grow healthier crops and improve soil health.

The Green City Force run by the New York City Housing Authority turns open urban spaces into gardens tended by young adults in the program. The force is meant to prepare members for careers in sustainable industries afterward. The members also educate locals, trade vegetables grown in the gardens for compost, and train in ecoliteracy.

The Al Barakeh Wheat Project is working to regain food sovereignty through urban wheat farming in Amman, Jordan, by partnering farmers with families to teach them how to grow and harvest wheat.

The Life Do Grow Farm in Philadelphia, run by the nonprofit Urban Creators, is a two-acre plot that yields food needed to feed the community who might not be able to make ends meet. Since June, the farm has distributed 65,000 pounds of produce, along with free children’s meals. But the farm is also a community gathering space for artists and entrepreneurs. While the land’s lease runs out in 2022, the nonprofit hopes to own it and highlight it as a “reimagination of city land, a radical collaboration in the service of empowering Black and brown communities in North Central Philly,” said the farm manager.