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Cultivating Change Gathering in Tanzania: Transforming Food Systems
"There are a large number of farmer movements, initiatives and organizations that have practicing and advocating for decades to scale and accelerate regenerative and agroecological food systems transformations.
However, funding – or more, the lack of it- is still a very big issue. According to a recent report by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food (GAFF), the transition to agroecology and regenerative food systems will require $430 billion annually, but right now only $44 billion USD goes towards this in contrast with the $630 billion which goes annually towards harmful agriculture subsidies.
From June 4 to 7, I was invited by the Agroecology Coalition to attend the Cultivating Change Gathering in Arusha, Tanzania. The meeting was convened by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Biovision Foundation, Agroecology Coalition and Climate Works Foundation.
Over 100 people including funders, governments officials and civil society representatives gathered for two very important events on agroecology, fertilizers, and transitions in food systems, including discussing and rallying support to scale and accelerate agroecological good systems transformation."
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After a 4-year Legal Battle, Monsanto Drops Lawsuit Against Mexico’s GM Corn Ban
"In what is being called a significant victory for Mexico, Monsanto has withdrawn its legal challenge against the 2020 presidential decree aimed at banning glyphosate and genetically modified (GM) corn for human consumption.
The National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt) heralded the decision as 'a triumph for life, health and food sovereignty.'
Monsanto’s subsidiaries, Semillas y Agroproductos Monsanto and Monsanto Comercial, ratified their withdrawal on June 25.
Monsanto produces the herbicide Roundup, one of several glyphosate-based products that are used in the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO) such as Roundup Ready corn, cotton and soybeans. A common genetic modification makes crops resistant to glyphosate, allowing farmers to apply large amounts of the weed-killer to GMO crops.
The legal battle was initiated in response to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2020 decree to ban the widely used but controversial herbicide, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified as a 'probable carcinogen,' though its safety remains a subject of debate.
The battle included over 30 amparo (judicial protective order) suits aiming to declare the decree unconstitutional. In July 2022, for example, Bayer, which acquired Monsanto six years ago, obtained a court order against the application of the decree."
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Is Organic Produce Worth the Higher Price?
"In 2022, organics accounted for 15 percent of all fruit and vegetable sales in the United States despite being far pricier than conventional produce.
But with today’s high grocery bills, even some committed organic shoppers are agonizing over which blueberries to buy and wondering: Is organic really worth the cost?
Here are some facts to help you figure out what’s right for you and your budget.
First, what does ‘certified organic’ mean?
Unlike the terms 'natural' or 'sustainable,' the Department of Agriculture’s organic seal is highly regulated (though not entirely fraud-proof).
When you see the USDA Organic sticker on a banana, you can generally assume it has been grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms and most synthetic pesticides. Its production may have involved organic farming techniques, such as rotating crops and planting cover crops, too.
It’s worth noting that not all organic farmers have the time, money or desire to pursue official certification. You can always ask at a farmers market how the food was grown."
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Impacts of Pesticides Use and International Regulation
"This book is the result of a collective effort headed by the IPSA1 (International Pesticides Standard Alliance) group, a two-year long partnership that was officially consolidated in March 2023 at the United Nations Water Meeting in New York, when IPSA released its statement.
The main objective of IPSA, including this book, is to discuss the need for international pesticide regulation, as suggested by the title of this book. This book is divided into two major parts: the articles in the first part deal with the theme of 'Pesticides and Justice' and in the second part the articles deal with the 'Impacts of Pesticides on Human and Environmental Health'.
These parts are convergent with the very purpose of IPSA in that they reflect on the legal challenges (on different scales) to pesticides and also, fundamentally, reflect on the impacts these substances have on human health and environmental health.
More information here
Food Without Farms: Coke, Nestlé, Pepsi Among Ultra-processed Food Giants Running Global Food Policy
"Ultra-processed food producers are key actors in a complex global network of influence groups where they exert disproportionate power on global food policy and nutrition policy, according to a new paper in Agriculture and Human Values.
Calls for transforming global food governance from a corporate-dominated model to a 'multi-stakeholder' model — led by organizations like the World Economic Forum (WEF) — has led to the proliferation of multi-stakeholder institution initiatives, partnerships, platforms and roundtables largely responsible for instituting new global 'solutions' to agricultural problems.
These multi-stakeholder initiatives are based on a vision promoted by Klaus Schwab — that private corporations are key 'stakeholders' that should play a leading role in sustainable development and be positioned as 'trustees of society,' the authors wrote.
As a result, most prominent and powerful multi-stakeholder institutions are largely led by board members from ultra-processed food producers, retailers and business associations, the study found.
'Our results suggest that we now have a corporate-aligned, multi-stakeholder-led, global food governance system disproportionately organized by specific actors with common interests in advancing the ultra-processed food industry,' lead author Scott Slater from Australia’s Deakin University told The Defender."
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Ethiopia: Farmers Make the Shift to Agroecology – But Not Without Support
"The intertwined nature of food, livelihoods, health, and natural resource management can no longer be denied. Agroecology – a transdisciplinary field that includes the ecological, socio-cultural, technological, economic, and political dimensions of food systems, from production to consumption – is accordingly growing in popularity. As the transition takes hold, measuring the performance of agroecology systems is more important than ever.
To this end, the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)’s Measuring Agroecology Performance (MAP) project assessed the performance of agroecology within the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)’s ProSilience project in four African countries – Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. The MAP project forms part of the Metrics domain of the Agroecology Transformative Partnership Platform (Agroecology TPP).
In Ethiopia, the team assessed the agroecological transition levels (AETL) of farms in the Hula, Sodo-Zuria, and Walmara districts – three of the 22 districts in which ProSilience has been operating since 2021. The results, which were presented for validation at an April 29, 2024 workshop in Addis Ababa, showed that farms that are beneficiaries of ProSilience are at more advanced AETLs than those who are not."
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Essential Reading and Viewing
In a Desertscape in Brazil, Science Brings Farms to Bountiful Life
When José Rodrigues do Santos first saw the enormous canyons in Gilbués, in Brazil’s Piauí state, he didn’t imagine that he would spend the rest of his life there. He had walked some 20 kilometers (12 miles) across a red sea of desertified land from the place where he was born to arrive in the heart of Gilbués with his family.
Monsanto Roundup Trial Win Overturned; Epa Issues Cited
An Oregon appeals court on Wednesday overturned a trial victory by Monsanto owner Bayer AG in a decision that adds to an ongoing debate over the company’s efforts to create a nationwide legal and legislative shield from lawsuits alleging Roundup weed killer causes cancer.
What If Trees Were People Too?
In India, Ecuador and Spain, forests, rivers and lakes are being given legal rights, in the hope of protecting them against pollution, destruction and exploitation. But what it does it mean for a tree or a waterway to have ‘rights’? And can our legal systems really empower the natural environment to defend itself?
Permaculture Found to Be a Sustainable Alternative to Conventional Agriculture
RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau has shown for the first time, in a joint study with BOKU University, that permaculture brings about a significant improvement in biodiversity, soil quality and carbon storage.
High-level Scientific and Technological Support for the Billion Agave Project
On May 8th, a collaboration agreement was signed in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, between the Center for Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco (CIATEJ) and Regeneration International (RI), in order to strengthen and promote the Billion Agave Project (BAP) in the following areas: research and scientific and technological transfer, project development and implementation, human resources, dissemination, training and institutional services. The agreement was signed by Dr. Eugenia del Carmen Lugo Cervantes, Director General of CIATEJ and Luis Arturo Carrillo Sánchez, Coordinator of the BAP.
Early US Fumbles in Tortilla War With Mexico Over GMO Corn
The U.S. government ignores the trade numbers and misconstrues Mexican policy when it comes to glyphosate and American corn destined for human consumption across the border.
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Upcoming Events |
In Person:
08/01 - Healing Communities, the Earth, and Our Souls through Regenerative Agriculture
08/02 - Carbon Credit
08/15 - Farming for the Future: Digital and Regenerative Agriculture Field Day
08/15 - Congreso de Cucurbitáceas y Hortalizas
08/21 - Regenerative Agriculture Field Tour
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08/27 - Webinar: Bienvenidos a la especialización en manejo holístico
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Regeneration International is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, dedicated to building a global network of farmers, scientists, businesses, activists, educators, journalists, policymakers and consumers who will promote and put into practice regenerative agriculture and land-use practices that: provide abundant, nutritious food; revitalize local economies; regenerate soil fertility and water-retention capacity; nurture biodiversity; and restore climate stability by reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time drawing down excess atmospheric carbon and sequestering it in the soil.
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