FARMER – RESEARCHER PARTNERSHIP, SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA

Field, Research

Category:

Location/Scale:

Santa Cruz, California (Subnational)

Implementing Organisation:

University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) – Agroecology Program

Period:

1988 – now

In a nutshell

This example is documenting how strawberry monocultures turned into sustainable agroecosystems through a 30-year farmer-researcher partnership.

It all started with a research partnership between a farmer and a researcher for agroecological transition of the conventional monoculture strawberry production. Step by step, changes and improvements of the practices, thereby proofing the feasibility in the field, has been a successful approach to drive a sustainability transformation. Through adoption of the practices by other farmers and companies in the region and an increased consumer awareness, organic production has scaled up, leading to an 8-fold increase of organic strawberry production between 1997 and 2016. At the later stage of the transformation also direct marketing was a key to success to provide market incentives for the farmers.

 

 

 

Context

Monterey and Santa Cruz counties account for about half of the total California strawberry crop, producing more than $953 million worth of strawberries on 13,063 acres in 2016. Strawberry production has traditionally been done in a very conventional, water and chemical input intensive way. In 2017, a key fumigant, MeBR, was nationally banned, increasing the demand for and transformation to sustainable alternatives.

Objective

The main goal was to redesign traditional large-scale monoculture strawberry production systems into an agroecological system through a researcher-farmer partnership by starting on one model farm and subsequent scaling improvements step-by-step and upscaling.

Key Interventions/Research

Farm level:

  • Stepwise input substitution
  • Model farm through farmer-researcher partnership
  • «push-pull» pest management techniques
  • Sophisticated crop rotations, intercropping
  • Comprehensive, system-wide redesign that nurtures complexity and diversity

Regional/national Level:

  • Provision of access to research to solve upcoming challenges in the field (research-partnership)
  • Alternative network for direct sales

Lessons Learned/challenges

This example of a larger scale transformation of strawberry monocultures is indicating that with sufficient resources, time and support from (participatory) research, transformations of a system in a very sceptical setting- the approach was considered radical – is possible.

To provide a price incentive and compensate the higher labour costs, decreased input costs and a direct sales system were also a key success factor to support this transition

The challenges for the future are mainly environmental ones such as soil erosion, nutrient leaching, groundwater depletion and saltwater intrusion.

Relevant Links & references

CLIMATE-RESILIENT “ECOVILLAGE” in Chololo, tanzania

Climate, Field

Category:

Location/Scale:

Tanzania (Local)

Implementing Organisation:

Institute of Rural Development Planning (IRDP)

Period:

2011 – Now

In a nutshell

The Chololo Ecovillage project adopted a holistic approach to meeting the multiple challenges communities face the in the context of climate change

Building on local knowledge, traditional practices and natural resources, it revolved around a package of agroecological practices or ‘technologies’, aimed at making the most of the limited rainfall, improving soil fertility, reducing farmers’ workload, and improving the quality of local seeds.

The project took a participatory approach from the assessment of climate vulnerability and capacity to knowledge generation and dissemination.

The second phase of the project is focused on scaling out the approach to three more villages and involving local and national authorities to climate adaptation planning.

 

 

 

 

Context

Chololo village, located in the semi-arid drylands of Central Tanzania, faces challenges typical to this agro-pastoralist region: recurrent drought, food insecurity, and vulnerability to climate change. Some of the key issues identified by residents and the village committee range from increased drought frequency, deforestation, flooding and strong winds, to human diseases, livestock diseases, crop pests, and inadequate ground water recharge.

These problems were compounded by the traditional dependency on rain-fed agriculture, the use of simple farm implements (such as hand hoes), the unsustainable use of natural resources, a lack of enforcement of natural resource by-laws, and a lack of awareness of climate change. The Ecovillage project came at a time when the slash and burn model was nearing exhaustion.

Objective

The main goal of this project is to address climate vulnerabilities and create a model of good practice in climate adaptation, based on testing, evaluating and rolling out over 20 ecological ‘technologies’ in agriculture, livestock, water, energy, and forestry. It is also focuses on planning climate change strategies with local and national authorities.

Key Interventions

Farm level:

  • Package of agroecological practices, including manure-based increase of soil fertility and optimal planting schedules.
  • Livestock-specific interventions: introduction of improved breeds of cattle, goats and chickens & use of crop residues to feed livestock.
  • Community level interventions: improvements to water conservation features, such as contour ridges, grass strips and gully healing to capture rainwater and prevent soil erosion, sustainable forestry and agroforestry and water management
  • Creation of ‘technology groups’ for knowledge transfer and farmer-to-farmer outreach

Regional/national Level:

  • Building the capacity of the two local authorities to plan and implement climate change strategies
  • Knowledge management system to share the learnings on national level, through visits from national policymakers & involvement of local policymakers

Lessons Learned/challenges

In the eyes of participants and outside observers, the project was successful because of its multi-dimensionality. It has both a multi-sectoral focus (agriculture, livestock, water, energy, resources) and a multi-disciplinary project team (university, government, agricultural research institute, local authority & NGOs) for wide buy-in. Efforts were undertaken to ensure virtuous circles between the project and national policies, particularly around climate adaptation through a conscious alignment with national climate adaptation policy.

Relevant Links & references

 

 

Food Security & Sovereignty in Las Segovias, Nicaragua

Field, Research

Category:

Location/Scale:

Nicaragua (National)

Implementing Organisation:

CAN (Community Agroecology Network)

Period:

2009 – now

In a nutshell

The Food Security and Sovereignty in Las Segovias Project is a collaboration between CAN and PRODECOOP, a coffee farmer cooperative organization. The project aims to improve food security and reduce seasonal hunger among 1500 smallholder coffee farming families in Northern Nicaragua.

CAN engaged in a participatory planning process to define strategies based on recognized needs to establish year-round access to healthy food in participating rural communities.

One important pillar of this project are the corn storage and distribution centres (CADA). The CADAs help farmers to store their harvest centrally and use it in thin months for the whole community. A second pillar are the seven seed banks to provide farmers with quality seed (mainly corn and beans) all year long.  A third aspect is the diversification of farms especially with fruit trees, cassava, plantain and sweet potatoes, which has always been practiced in South America.

 

 

 

Context

In Nicaragua, seasonal hunger is one of the biggest challenges. Food insecurity has especially risen since the coffee-leave rust outbreak in 2011 and the start of a drought in 2014. Central America has seen a succession of droughts, hurricanes, and other hazards in the past decade and is likely to be hit by the threats of climate change in the future more often.

Nationwide, the prevalence of undernourishment dropped from 55% to 20% between 1990 and 2010 and several government assistance programs have expanded. Despite these gains, food insecurity remains a pressing challenge among many rural Nicaraguan smallholders.

Objective

The main goals of this project are improved food availability, access, and food utilization through CADAs, seed banks, farm diversification and experimentation, and organizational capacity building in order to reduce seasonal hunger and erase undernourishment among children.

Key Interventions

Farm level:

  • Distribution of fruit trees and different varieties of vegetables to enhance diversification
  • Metal silos have been distributed to improve grain storage methods and reduced rates of grain spoilage and loss

Regional/national Level:

  • Build food storage and distribution centres known as CADAs to mitigate hunger in thin months
  • Construction of seedbanks, which are operating and helping seed production, especially corn and beans, mitigating the impacts of harvest loss and responding to the farmers’ seed demand with efficiency and availability of quality seed
  • Training, research, dissemination, and ongoing farmer and promoter development

Lessons Learned/challenges

The Participation Action Research implemented by the project allowed to refine the set of strategies that are the most needed by farmers through constant feedback and reflexion on lessons learned. Four more strategies were added to the original three, such as increase household capacity and access to seed and rootstock production.

Another lesson is that the elimination of the thin months and reaching every single family, their cooperatives and communities is a slow process. The cumulative effects of multiple hazards remains the main challenge. For instance, the coffee leaf rust and other pests that has affected nearly all coffee farming families, adds up to the effect of drought.

There is also a need to promote strategies for the preservation of local and patrimonial varieties, especially in consideration of climate change adaptation and the lack of water.

Relevant Links & references