This 9 minute film is an insight into the work of soil and water conservation expert, Dr Chris Reij. In June 2012
I joined him on a whistle-stop tour of communities in southern Niger. This area is right on the edge of the Sahara and yet growing in the sandy soil are an abundance of vegetables, cereal crops and trees.
The film was made with funding support from IFAD.

Journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy travels across India to investigate the underbelly of the Indian economic miracle. Underneath the glittering surface of India's economic boom lie the ugly realities of modern-day India: mass suicide by debt-ridden farmers, a rise in Hindu nationalism, discrimination against Muslims and a caste system that condemns millions to a life of servitude.

Dr. Susan Chomba, Regreening Africa Programme Manager from the World Agroforestry Centre (CIFOR-ICRAF), discusses agroforestry as a Nature-based Solution and on engaging communities in agroforestry programs.
Dr. Chomba is a social scientist with over 15 years of experience in governance, policies and institutions in forestry, agriculture and rural development in Africa. She works on climate change policies, land tenure, equity, vulnerability and gender.

This is the story of an inspiring Maasai man who has brought positive change to his land and community through permaculture. Joseph Lentunyoi started a permaculture center in his dry, arid homeland of Laikipia County 7 years ago where he showcases sustainable food systems following permaculture design principles, land regeneration practices, and other simple solutions that can improve livelihoods (solar, biogas, natural building techniques, etc.). Laikipia Permaculture Center -- the organization he founded -- also helped create business opportunities for women, including making cosmetics from Aloe and many different products from a locally growing cactus.

As part of the project “Building capacity: international advanced application course on GIAHS (globally important agricultural heritage systems)“, co-financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and involving the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Forestry Sciences and Technologies (DAGRI) of the University of Florence as the implementing party and Polo universitario città di Prato (PIN) as a partner, a collaboration with Slow Food has come to life.

Within the framework of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, a series of four webinars and a digital conference are planned with the Slow Food network around the world (Terra Madre delegates, Slow Food communities and convivia, producers participating in the event’s marketplace, etc.), with the aim of illustrating the objectives and potential of the FAO’s GIAHS Programme for the sustainable development of rural areas.

The principles on which the Programme is based are explained, starting with the importance of cultural conservation, biocultural diversity and traditional production systems for the preservation of the environment and landscapes. These represent a viable alternative to the intensification of agriculture. The webinar will also explain the process for applying to be part of the GIAHS Programme.

Speakers TBC

The training session is conducted in English and French.

Project implemented by DAGRI in collaboration with PIN and Slow Food, with funding from AICS and the collaboration of Horizons.

Trees -- such as those of the Faidherbia genus -- are planted in fields or pastures as natural fertilizer. Intercropping with trees on farmland has now become popular. In Zambiamore than 160,000 farmers plant Faidherbia trees in their fields. Farmers in Niger have been able to make 4.8 million hectares of land greener and more fertile, thanks to these EverGreen Agriculture.