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Response From RI Africa Coordinator Precious Phiri to Widely Distributed Article “Regenerative Grazing is Overhyped as a Climate Solution"
I have read with great interest the article, Regenerative Grazing is overhyped as a climate solution, by Dr Jonathan Foley, published on August 15th. I deeply regret having to contradict such unprofessional work that is doing great damage to all of humanity as we face global biodiversity loss and desertification fueling climate change. I work daily with small rural family farmers who are on the frontlines of dealing with extreme climatic changes and their effects. We are daily learning the importance of well-managed livestock and its relationship to the great landscapes of all seasonal rainfall areas, their people, and all life that depends on these landscapes. I have never seen or known anything more hopeful for landscapes like ours, except using the tool of holistically managed animals to regenerate grasslands.
Firstly, I will put it out there, as some of you readers are aware, and some aren’t; “regenerative grazing”, is one of many derivatives of Holistic Management and it’s Holistic Planned Grazing process, published in the book Holistic Management, by Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield (Island Press). First published in the early 1990s and now in 3rd Edition. There are dozens of plagiarizations and derivations due to unethical academic behavior and refusal to acknowledge the origin of such truly groundbreaking discoveries. As Dr Carl Hart, a tenured professor at Columbia wrote in his memoir High Price, the ethical standards in academia are lower than those in the Miami drug gang world in which he grew up. However, regardless of the greatest barrier in these times, we still have to continuously put out our voices whenever we can. This gives us an opportunity to share hope and do our best to continuously create connections in an ever-complex and differently patterned world.
This academic problem is further compounded by an inability to grasp new management discoveries that go beyond academic disciplinary boundaries. John Ralston Saul captures this well, published in his best-selling Voltaire’s Bastards, “The reality is that the division of knowledge into feudal fiefdoms of expertise has made general understanding and coordinated action not simply impossible but despised and distrusted.”
Dr Foley’s article falls short as it seems to be caught in the above description, watering down a process being critiqued without a sincere understanding or knowledge. Holistic planned grazing is designed to manage the complexities of natural patterns and occurrences of an ecosystem. It is also a harvest and re-engagement of old communal knowledge and wisdom innate in these pastoral and agro-pastoral communities.
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People’s Food Summit 2024
People's Food Summit 2024 is coming soon and we're highlighting some of last year's speakers as we get ready for this global event.
This will be the fourth time Regeneration International will host the People’s Food Summit. This unique event is a major 24-hour event celebration of World Food Day, October 16, 2024, featuring exciting speakers from every region of our planet.
Watch the interview with Eco Activist, Dr. Vandana Shiva, on the Regeneration International Podcast
Watch the interview with Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson on the Regeneration International Podcast
View highlights of last year's event here
View the page for the 2024 Food Summit
US Flails in GM Corn Dispute with Mexico
Closing arguments are in in the U.S. trade complaint against Mexico’s restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn, with the three-arbitrator tribunal set to rule on the matter in November. The legitimacy of the trade agreement itself hangs in the balance.
In the course of the year-long process Mexico has dismantled U.S. claims, showing that its precautionary measures are permitted under the terms of the trade agreement, that its restrictions barely impact U.S. exports, and that it has a mountain of scientific evidence of risk to justify its precautionary policies.
Will the panel let the U.S. use a trade agreement stop a policy that barely affects trade?
The U.S. government requested this formal dispute-resolution process a year ago under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) over Mexico’s February 2023 presidential decree that restricted the use of GM corn in tortillas and phased out the use of the herbicide glyphosate, which is applied to 80% of U.S. corn. Mexico cited evidence of both GM corn and glyphosate in tortillas and other common corn preparations and documented the risks from such exposures, particularly for a Mexican population that eats more than ten times the amount of corn consumed per capita in the United States.
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First Congress on Traditional Medicine and Herbalism at Cencalli
From September 6 to the 8th, Regeneration International attended the First Congress on Traditional Medicine and Herbalism at Cencalli. Over 20 wise men and women shared their ancestral knowledge on medicinal plants, healing rituals and traditional practices.
Knowledge about the use of medicinal plants is millenary and has been associated with ideas, experiences, beliefs and traditions, generating a strong connection between the great diversity of plants and the cultures that have learned to use them. It is estimated that worldwide, more than 52,000 plant species are used for medicinal purposes. China ranks first with a total of 4,900 species of medicinal plants while Mexico ranks second with the use of approximately 4,500 species, which represents 0.86% of the world total and 18% of the plants that make up the vegetation of Mexico (25,008 species).
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Billion Agave Project Gains High-level Scientific and Technological Support
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 establishment of this agreement is part of one of BAP’s strategic axes of development, which is to formalize and consolidate an active network of collaboration with various entities from the social, community, academic, public and private sectors, to enable the implementation of the project on a national scale.
Adding value to agave cultivation through the implementation of sustainable productive projects that diversify its use, such as the extraction and commercialization of inulin, is one of the BAP’s strategies to encourage producers to establish agroecological agave-based plantations that strengthen bioculturality and contribute to carbon sequestration, as well as to the ecological, social and economic regeneration of the territory.
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Book Launch "Regenerative Farming and Sustainable Diets Human, Animal and Planetary Health"
André Leu and Vandana Shiva, participated writing some chapters for this interesting book. This book makes the case for an urgent move away from industrial agriculture towards regenerative farming and the promotion of plant-based diets.
How we produce, distribute and consume food are critical issues for the health and well-being of humans, animals and the environment. In order to develop a sustainable food system, this book argues for a radical change in farming and food consumption. Containing contributions from world renowned experts, this book promotes regenerative farming as the means to preserve planetary health, establish sustainable, healthy and secure diets and safeguard the welfare of animals. Chapters discuss broad ranging issues from climate change and biodiversity conservation to animal sentience and intensive farming, and the role of financial markets and food businesses. The book concludes with chapters discussing the routes in policy and practice to transforming the food system and achieving real-world change.
This book is a must read for students, scholars and policymakers interested in establishing sustainable farming and food systems, for human health, animal welfare and environmental protection.
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Essential Reading and Viewing
In Service to Family, Community, the Land and Life As Family – in Conversation With Precious Phiri
On July 1st, 2024, I caught up with one of the most inspirational women I have ever met. I had the pleasure of getting to know Precious through the LUSH Spring Prize as we were both members of the initial jury of the prize. Precious rocks!
World Organic Forum
Regeneration International director André Leu, present in the World Organic Forum, celebrated in July, in Germany. Check out this interesting presentation about services for climate change mitigation through organic, regenerative, and agroecological perspectives.
Did you miss the webinar on “Agroecology, Organic, Regenerative, Nature-based: A Conversation on Food Systems Sustainability Framings”?
A special thanks to our speakers, Fergus Sinclair (CIFOR-ICRAF and Agroecology TPP), Ercilia Sahores (Regeneration International), Bablu Choitresh Ganguly (IFOAM - Organics International), Natasja Oerlemans (WWF Netherlands), and our moderator, Esther Kagai (Cshep Kenya ), for your amazing inputs! A big thank you as well to all the participants who joined the webinar and enriched it with their insightful questions. It was wonderful to dive deep into the differences and synergies between these concepts and frameworks that collectively contribute to transforming our current food system!
Organic Farmers Speak Out on Immigration
Just a reminder that we still seek more farmers to sign on with us! A few join every day, but it would be great to get to 100. Here is the link for the stgn-on statement.
Healthy Planeat – Episode 18 with André Leu DSc – How Can We Create A Regenerative Food System?
Food For You and the Planet podcast episode with Regeneration International director, André Leu. Where he discusses important subjects such as Group Certification, Pesticides & GMOs, and his new book.
A ‘Global Cold Rush’ Is Reshaping the Planet, and How the World Eats
Nicola Twilley, author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, says this expansion of the world’s “distributed winter” has wide-ranging climate implications.
Corporate or Community-Led? Africa’s Agricultural Future at a Crossroads
The post-Malabo process to determine the next decade of agricultural policy has so far been characterised by outside influence and exclusivity.
I’ve Propagated Nearly Every Houseplant I Own – and This Is How I Speed up the Process
My home looks more and more like an indoor jungle as the weeks go on, and it’s all thanks to propagation. I love being able to multiply my already-sizable houseplant collection and having gone through trial and error with houseplant propagation means I now grow new plants regularly.
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Support Our Work
Dear Friends of Regeneration International
Regenerative Agriculture is under attack by agribusiness. The poison cartels such as Bayer/Monsanto and Syngenta, along with their captive government departments, are trying to hijack regenerative agriculture to greenwash their degenerative systems.
“We need your participation and support as we move forward in this world-changing campaign we call Regeneration International. We need to build a massive international alliance to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, to sequester billions of tons of excess atmospheric carbon in our soils and biota, to regenerate billions of acres of degraded ecosystems, to eliminate rural poverty, to reverse our deteriorating public health and to revitalize rural communities all over the globe. The hour is late, but we still have time to regenerate.”
Please support our campaign to stop this greenwashing and ensure Regenerative Agriculture’s integrity by restoring farmer’s independence, promoting social justice, fair trade and regenerating ecological health.
Can you give $10 monthly or a one time donation today to support Regeneration International and our campaigns?
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Upcoming Events |
In Person:
09/14 - Farm Days Festival 2024
09/23 - Regenerative Agriculture Conference
09/23 - Integrando saberes, para la transición agroecológica
09/24 - Bi-cropping: What Future for More Complex Rotations?
09/25 - Future Farming Resilience: Funding Opportunities for Healthy Trees & Hedges
09/27 - Catch and Cover Cropping Successes and Failures
09/28 - Discover the Future of Farming: Permaculture & Regenerative Agriculture
09/29 - Bhoomi 2024, Living Seeds, Living Soil - Navdanya Biodiversity Farm
Online:
09/13 - Webinar – Ganadería regenerativa de precisión
09/18 - Webinar – Co-producing Educational and Research Priorities for Uk Agroforestry
*Click here to view full events calendar and submit your own
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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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