These farmers will save the world
By Francesca Merlo
It’s become quite typical of us humans to complicate what’s actually rather simple. Amongst the groups suffering from this affliction are farmers, who find their work more fruitful when they leverage soils in their natural forms. But over the years, chemicals and pesticides have utterly ravaged the earth, making farming difficult and costly. In fact, rural farmers spend a lot of their money on chemical fertilizers, which as the years go by damage the soil more and more, to the point where nothing can grow.
But there is a way to reverse this process and to help the soil return to its natural form, with the help of innovative agriculture and collaboration approaches
This isn't just a theory. It's been proven by 1 million farmers in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. They and their communities benefit from one of the world's most innovative and successful initiatives to scale regenerative agriculture to smallholder farmers: Andhra Pradesh Community-based Natural Farming (APCNF).
Foundation of Success
But what is APCNF? Rythu Sadhikara Samastha (RySS), the Farmers Empowerment Organisation, has been mandated in 2016 by the Andhra Pradesh state government to implement this state-wide program which scaled to 1 million farmers in just 8 years. It is also being adapted in additional Indian states and internationally.
The foundation of this programme, and part of the reason why it has been so successful, dates back to the year 2000, when Vijay Kumar, Executive Vice Chair of RySS, was asked to head the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty. This government initiative helped rural women to organize themselves into self-help groups, aiding them to take collective action on issues which are important to them. This includes supporting each other financially through thrift and inter-loaning and by exchanging successful agriculture practices.
“In about ten years,” says Kumar, “this programme was able to organise 11.5 million women in rural Andhra Pradesh”, and in another 10 years the National initiative was able to organize 100 million women in villages across India.
These women formed federations. It very quickly became clear that “if rural women come together, their strength multiplies and they can overcome a huge number of obstacles”. Through collaboration with banks, women became eligible for collateral free loans, transforming them into credit-worthy clients. “Initially we had to go after the banks,” Kumar notes. “Now the banks are running after the women to give them loans”. At first, they sought basic necessities, but soon they began investing in assets and agriculture.
Pioneers of regenerative farming
From 2016, with the help of RySS these women adopted APCNF’s innovative agriculture methods, discarding costly synthetic chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides, and improving their crop yields and incomes enormously. Their efforts built their capacities to manage finances, livelihoods, gender and social issues, and gave them a strong and influential voice in in their households and villages. Many women attained elected positions, making a significant political impact. “Once their energy got unleashed by coming together, these women found that they could cross many obstacles and improve their lives, improve the lives of their children”.
This is how the rural farming movement emerged, and Mr. Kumar knows that it is actually quite simple: "It means farming in harmony with nature."
Supporting the government of Andhra Pradesh’s RySS and these farming communities in their mission is NOW Partners Foundation, whose founder, Walter Link, sees things exactly as Vijay Kumar does. He emphasises the tremendous impact potential of merging human and natural intelligence for regenerative innovation.
Modern regenerative farming
Contrary to popular belief, regenerative farming does not mean going back to old-school methods. "We are not going back in time”, says Walter Link." Instead, he explains, regenerative farming is based on groundbreaking innovation that successfully addresses contemporary issues, including climate change. “While transitioning to renewable energy is crucial because it reduces carbon emissions, regenerative agriculture also plays a pivotal role in solving the climate crisis. Because only fields, grass lands, forests and oceans can sequester carbon at scale, something energy solutions can't achieve. If we scale regenerative agriculture to become the new mainstream, we can not only reduce new emissions but gradually reduce harmful temperature increases. It’s a large but realistic win-win-win ambition”
He goes on to add that regenerative agriculture also combats food and water insecurity and strengthens biodiversity by enabling APCNF aspects like multi-cropping. “For example, across Africa, farmers often produce monocrops solely for export, leaving them hungry and financially insecure. With regenerative methods, farmers can grow up to 20 different crops alongside the main crop, increasing productivity, income and food security”.
On top of this, he continues, regenerative farming requires less water. By increasing the soil's water retention through carbon sequestration, it mitigates the extremes of drought and excess water.
So what is next for this wonderful project? Spread it across the world. This is a community-based project, and the word community is essential. In fact, Walter Link reiterates that no single person or organization can do this alone. The community involves millions of farmers in Andhra Pradesh, women’s groups, local governments, and international partners. “For instance, our foundation partners with RySS to bring this methodology from Andhra Pradesh in India all the way to Zambia, with the support of the Zambian government and local farmers and congregations”.
It’s Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti in action, and you can really begin to see the fruits of this brotherhood as farmers across Zambia begin adapting and implementingAPCNF techniques in their communities in the southern African nation.
The Catholic Church and the farming mission in Zambia
This is where the Catholic Church also plays a crucial role. Sr. Modesta Chansa is a Salesian sister in Luwingu, Zambia. There, her congregation runs a farm called Volponasca Learning Farm, dedicated to helping farmers and young people who would like to start a career in agriculture.
“We are dealing with 1,000 households and 84 farmer groups,” says Sr. Modesta, expressing her distress at the challenges they have been facing in the last few years as “most of our farmers were unable to cultivate large portions of their farms because the fertilizers they use were too expensive.” So when NOW Partners Foundation reached out to them to propose a trip to India to learn about a type of farming “with no chemicals,” Sr. Modesta says, “you can imagine how interested I was.”
Meanwhile, in the capital Lusaka, Father Claus Recktenwald, SJ, received a similar proposition, hoping to involve the Jesuit-run centre in which he works. The Kasisi Agriculture Training Centre works to train small-scale farmers in organic agriculture and agroecology to help improve their livelihoods. While they have been working in natural farming for 30 years, the opportunity to expand this project and gain insight from others could, of course, not be turned down. Here implementation will begin in November.
In record time, a delegation of Zambian farmers had been given passports and visas. They left the country for the first time, heading to Andhra Pradesh to learn about this new regenerative farming. Since then an Indian delegation of APCNF experts has visited Zambia to initiate dry season planting. In November APCNF farmer-coaches will return to Zambia to support ongoing local implementation in various pilot locations. This support will be available to Zambian farmers for several years, until local farmer-coaches have been trained.
Spreading success
“We have gained a new understanding,” says Fr. Claus, upon his return to Zambia, adding that what was also fascinating was seeing “the strong spirit of fraternity during this incredible exchange between two very different cultures, and the trust that was placed in this partnership.” “This aligns with the fundamental values of the Church and the concept of uniting brotherhood and fraternity,” he said.
And this is precisely what this immense team of hard workers had hoped for: harmony and community, the sharing of ideas, and the spreading of love for our neighbor and planet, in search of the common good.
NOW Partner Foundation’s Walter Link concludes: “The goal of our mutually reinforcing partnerships with RySS and other local and international partners is to create an inspiring and pragmatic Global Academy community. We aim to empower the scaling of adaptive implementation approaches that foster co-creative innovation and scaling of APCNF and other regenerative agroecology methods. This involves mutual respect and learning from each other and adapting to local conditions. Even though regions like India, Zambia, Egypt, Brazil and the other countries where scoping has begun are different in many ways, the principles of soil health and regenerative practices are universal. We can all learn from each other, regardless of geographic, cultural and other differences. Together we can create a new mainstream of diverse agroecology methods that around the world benefits farmers and societies because it regenerates nature and the climate.”
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