Made by leading Ugandan documentarist Nathan Ochole, this film explains what agroforestry is and the myriad of contributions that it has made to Uganda. It starts in the highlands of Kabale, where trees on farms prevented landslides and floods, provided fruit to villagers and made their agriculture more sustainable. It then roams to the parklands of northern Uganda where Borassus palms and Shea trees provide valuable nutrition and cash earnings (particularly for women in the case of Shea) and improve the yields of the crops grown near them. It visits Kapchorwa where we see the use of the nitrogen-fixing shrub Calliandra as feed for dairy cows and then documents the improvements that orange trees have made to livelihoods in Namatumba.

Along the way, the film interviews farmers as well as Dr Clement Okia, the representative of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Uganda, and Dr Hilary Agaba, Programme Leader Agroforestry at Uganda’s National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI NARO). It was produced by Cathy Watson, formerly of Tree Talk and Muvle Trust in Uganda and now Head of Programme Development at ICRAF, and by Australian AVID volunteer, Laura Keenan.

Regenerative agriculture is an effective way to restore biodiversity and stabilize the climate, but what exactly is it? This video explores three different regenerative practices that have great potential both in food production and in healing the land.

Sources:

Organic Agriculture does more harm than goodSearchinger et al., Assessing the efficiency of changes in land use for mitigating climate change, 2018.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0757-z

Bacteria Converts Ammonium into Nitrite and Nitrate:Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, Teaming with Microbes, 2006, 48.Myceilium brings water to plants:Ibid, 57.Worms increase water absorption and allow plant roots to penetrate deeper:Ibid, 89.Fertilizer leeches into water:Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 2005.http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/en....glish/engineer/facts

Regenerative grazing can sequester carbon:Sanderman et al., Impacts of Rotational Grazing on Soil Carbon in Native Grass-Based Pastures in Southern Australia, 2015.https://journals.plos.org/plos....one/article%3Fid%3D1

Regenerative grazing can build soil and reverse desertification:Allan Savory, Holistic Management, 1999, 244.The growth of grass:Global Rangelands, Basics of Grass Growthhttps://globalrangelands.org/t....opics/rangeland-ecol

Julius Ruechel, The Daily Pasture Rotation, 2009.https://www.grass-fed-solution....s.com/pasture-rotati

Overgrazing leads to erosion, drought, and desertification:Ibanez et al., Desertification due to overgrazing in a dynamic commercial livestock–grass–soil system, 2007.https://www.sciencedirect.com/....science/article/pii/ forests consist of 7 layers:Toby Hemenway, Gaia's Garden, 2001, 172.

The final update from Al Baydha Project Co-founder Neal Spackman, 9 years in. How desertification resulted from the loss of an indigenous land management system, and how the land has changed since all inputs to the project were ceased in 2016. Neal moved on from Al Baydha in 2018 and can now be contacted at https://regenerativeresources.co

The species that worked the best for us were Ziziphus Spinachristi, Moringa Peregrina, commiphora gileadensis, prosopis spp (though this one we likely won't continue planting in the future), and the local acacias.

Music by Faisal Alawi, and by Olafur Arnalds (performed by Voces 8).

معلومات عن نتائج مشروع البيضاء و الزراعة المستدامة التي اسست في جبال ٥٠ كيلومتر جنوب مكه المكرمة
موسيقة: فيصل علوي و الفور ارنالدز

A majestic journey through Japan, Korea, and the United States that turns our perceptions of food (and life) upside down in a simple and poetic way. Solutions for our most pressing social and ecological issues come from unexpected places in a bite-sized film that New York Times bestselling author Alicia Bay Laurel calls “beautiful … both art and documentary.”Inspired by the work and philosophy of Masanobu Fukuoka, artist Patrick M. Lydon (USA) and editor Suhee Kang (South Korea) spend four years meeting and studying with multiple generations of modern day natural farmers. The result is a film that weaves breathtaking landscapes and an eclectic original soundtrack together with stories and insights from an inspiring cast of natural farmers, chefs, and teachers. The film gives modern-day relevance to age-old ideas about more sustainable, regenerative, and harmonious ways of living with the earth.Current-day leaders in the natural farming movement featured in the film include Yoshikazu Kawaguchi (Japan), Seonghyun Choi (Korea), Larry Korn (United States), and a dozen others. Their stories illuminate a brilliant-yet-maddeningly-simple path to sustainability and well being, one popularized by the late Masanobu Fukuoka, author of the seminal environmental text “One Straw Revolution.”Far-reaching in its application, “Food, Earth, Happiness” offers philosophical seeds to grow solutions for social and environmental justice.–Note: Officially released on January 1, 2019, this film is an abbreviated version of the acclaimed environmental documentary Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness (74 min / 2015). It has been edited by the directors for public and classroom use.–CREDITS– directed, filmed, and produced by – Patrick M. Lydon and Suhee Kang– produced by – SocieCity Films City as Nature– associate producer – Kaori Tsuji– production assistant & animation – Heeyoung Park– characters – Yoshikazu KawaguchiLarry KornKristyn LeachSeong Hyun ChoiEtsko KagamiyamaRyosok HongMaki SobajimaKenji MurakamiYoshiki YamamotoOsamu KitaKazuaki OkitsuDennis Lee– musicians – BomnoonbyulWindSync: Anni Hochhalter, horn; Garrett Hudson, flute; Tracy Jacobson, bassoon; Jack Marquardt, clarinet; Erin Tsai, oboeIpppen: Youji Kohno and Ben NakamuraJoyful Island– interview coordination and interpretation – Eri and Kazu DomaeIkumasa HayashiEri MizushimaIsao SuizuNaho TakeuchiHyunwoo Kim– translation – Masumi AbeSonny KimMalga KimNatsuki Yamada-KitadeKyoko KodaHyunwoo KimDaisuke MatsumotoAkiko MisasaEri Mizushima-PetersonUni ParkShumeiKaori Tsuji– explore more – http://www.finalstraw.org“Food, Earth, Happiness” was filmed entirely on location in Japan, South Korea, and the United States between 2011 – 2015 by directors Patrick M. Lydon and Suhee Kang.

Our story follows Satyavati – a young woman from the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh, India, as she compels her community to adopt a farming practice that is revolutionizing small-scale farming across India. Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a farming practice that believes in the natural growth of crops without adding any fertilizers and pesticides, or any other foreign elements. After decades of conventional agriculture, farmers in India found themselves in debt traps owing to loans taken to meet the high cost of fertilizers and pesticides. ZBNF promises not only to alleviate farmer debt, but also to increase yields, while alleviating the impacts of climate change, deforestation and land degradation.

Smallholder farmers are key actors in the global food system, producing roughly 80 percent of the food consumed in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Yet, the voices of smallholders are often neglected by policy makers when trade deals are negotiated or regulations established. Increasing the participation of smallholder farmers in agricultural trade has the potential to boost livelihoods, improve food security, and fuel economic growth.

Within an international trade regime marked by ever-more-stringent quality and safety standards, sophisticated value-chains, and byzantine contracts, the challenge of linking smallholders to markets is no simple task. Considering the increasing importance of agricultural trade to food security, it is also not a task that we can afford to ignore.

What is the role of smallholder farmers in the global exchange of agricultural goods? What barriers do trade regulations and standards impose for smallholders to access local, regional, and global markets? How can we build an enabling environment for trade in which smallholders can participate more fully?

There are 1.5 billion small family farmers, men and women, who live and work on around 475 million family farms, that are no more than 2 hectares in size. Monika reminds us up to 80% of all food consumed in the world are grown by these farmers, and these people are at the forefront of our fight for food security in the face of climate change.

Monika Barthwal-Datta is a Senior Lecturer in International Security in the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW. Growing up, Monika lived and studied in a number of countries, including India (where she comes from), Japan, New Zealand, Uganda and ultimately the UK where she completed her postgraduate studies. While studying for her MScEcon in Security Studies (Aberystwyth University) and then her PhD in International Security (Royal Holloway College, University of London), Monika worked as a freelance broadcast journalist for the BBC World Service Radio. She moved to Sydney in late 2010 to take up a two-year research fellowship on Food Security in Asia at the Centre for International Security Studies, University of Sydney, and moved to UNSW Australia in mid-2012. Monika’s research focuses on international security from ‘non-traditional’ perspectives that prioritise the needs and concerns of those who are least powerful and marginalised.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Regreening the planet looks at the profit that comes from the recovery of ecosystems in Spain, Egypt and India. Restoring ecosystems does not only generate ecological profit but also economic. In Regreening the desert, the makers of VPRO Backlight showed that the greening of deserts is very well possible. They followed the American-Chinese cameraman and ecologist John D. Liu.He filmed how an inhospitable dry mountain area as large as the Netherlands was transformed into a lush green oasis. The greening caused not only ecological recovery but also economic growth of the region. Since then, John D. Liu has traveled the world to inspire people in other countries to follow this example.Dutch ecologist Willem Ferwerda was inspired by Liu and decided to work together with him.

This cooperation has grown into a new organization, Commonland, a foundation with a clear mission: to restore the ecosystems on a large scale worldwide. The point of departure is that restoring landscapes not only yields ecological profits but also money, work and hope for the people living there.We can see that this works in Egypt: in 1977 Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish SEKEM, experimented to green the desert at Cairo. In 2014, SEKEM has grown to be the leading supplier of ecological products in Egypt and far beyond. Dr. Abouleish has built not only a flourishing business in the desert but a complete community with schools and their own medical and cultural facilities.

A better proof that greening and social innovation go hand in hand is almost impossible to find.That all areas can grow alive, even if they are completely eroded by erosion, also appears from the special story of Indian Jadav "Molai" Payeng. When he was 17, he worked for a replanting project in Assam province. After the project was completed and the other laborers had disappeared, he decided to continue propagating wood by hand. Now, Molai forest is 300 acres and populated by elephants, Bengal tigers, deer, rhino and numerous birds. Payeng is also called The Forest Man in India because he has been able to create a jungle singlehandedly.That is something that Spain might well use. Large areas in Spain are dry and abandoned due to misused agricultural subsidies, unintentional water and land use and large-scale erosion.

The population is turning its back on the countryside and moves to the cities, but there is also unemployment there. In Ayoo de Vidriales, a graying village in the middle of Spain, agricultural engineer Pedro Alonso Fernandez has begun to recover land. He wants to show that the Spanish silted and eroded soils are in fact Green Gold.Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2014.

© VPRO Backlight Octobre 2014On VPRO broadcast you will find nonfiction videos with English subtitles, French subtitles and Spanish subtitles, such as documentaries, short interviews and documentary series.VPRO Documentary publishes one new subtitled documentary about current affairs, finance, sustainability, climate change or politics every week. We research subjects like politics, world economy, society and science with experts and try to grasp the essence of prominent trends and developments.

Credits:Directed by: Rob van Hattum & Gijs Meyer SwanteeProduction: Helen Goossens Senior editors: Henneke Hagen & Frank WieringEnglish, French and Spanish subtitles: Ericsson.French and Spanish subtitles are co-funded by European Union.

The Sahara is the biggest desert on earth. It takes its name from the Arab word for "emptiness". In the dead heart of that emptiness there's a place called the Tenere. The Tenere takes its name from the Tuareg word for "nothing". A nothing the size of France in the middle of an emptiness the size of the United States. It's no wonder the locals call this place "The Land Of Fear”. David Adams retraces the trade routes of the people who call this stove-hot corner of the planet home.

Filmmaker: Julia Dahr

Climate change is affecting all regions of the globe, but some places are more vulnerable than others.Parts of East Africa are already seeing the effects of climate instability, with those dependent on farming for their livelihood among some of the hardest hit.Refusing to fall victim to the weather, Kisilu, a Kenyan smallholder farmer, uses a camera to capture the human impact of climate change.Filmed over four years, he documents floods, droughts and storms that menace his and his community's farms, forcing some to stop tending the fields and seek work in towns and cities.In Kisilu: The Climate Diaries, we witness a groundbreaking portrait of a Kenyan family on the front line of climate change.