Latest videos

West African Farmer Testimonies: How we are Overcoming the Crisis of Climate Change in the Sahel
West African Farmer Testimonies: How we are Overcoming the Crisis of Climate Change in the Sahel Ambakisye-Okang Dukuzumurenyi 31 Views • 5 years ago

ORFC Global 2021 Session

West African Farmer Testimonies: How We Are Overcoming the Crisis of Climate Change in the Sahel Through Natural Regeneration of Trees on Our Farms

Small-scale farmers in the 16 countries of the Sahel in West Africa face a dual crisis to their livelihoods: climate change and land degradation. 

For many generations, farmers had lived and farmed in equilibrium with the natural environment. They maintained soil fertility, water holding capacity and crop production through fallowing and other practices. 

Today, population pressure, climate change, soil erosion, misuse of agrochemicals have reduced the resiliency and sustainability of the farming system. Farm communities have become highly vulnerable to drought. Hunger and chronic malnutrition have increased. 

This session highlights the testimonies of farmers, men and women, from 4 countries in the Sahel in overcoming these problems. They represent a wider movement adapting the principles of “agroecology” (learning how to work with nature). This grassroots, farmer-led movement has achieved remarkable success in transforming landscapes, adapting to climate change, regenerating their soils, and improving their food security. 

Their inspiring testimonies show how human determination, innovation, and collective action have brought hope to one of the most ecologically fragile, crisis prone areas in Africa.

Speakers:
Tsuamba Bourgou
Fatou Batta
Dan Banuoku

Chair:
Peter Gubbels

#ORFCGlobal​
https://orfc.org.uk/

An Introduction to Earth Jurisprudence and the Role of the Sacred in Farming
An Introduction to Earth Jurisprudence and the Role of the Sacred in Farming Ambakisye-Okang Dukuzumurenyi 59 Views • 5 years ago

ORFC Global 2021 Session

Across Africa, a network of Earth Jurisprudence Practitioners is accompanying traditional and indigenous communities in the revival and enhancement of their Earth-centred customary governance systems. African Earth Jurisprudence Practitioners from West and Southern Africa will share the philosophy and practice of Earth Jurisprudence and the work that Earth Jurisprudence has inspired on the continent: stories of accompanying rural communities in the revival of their seed and food sovereignty and traditional knowledge and practices, the restoration of their sacred natural sites and associated rituals, and the strengthening of their ecological governance systems derived from the laws of the Earth.  

These civil-society-led initiatives to re-establish Earth-centred governance on the continent are founded on Africa’s rich indigenous legal traditions and cultural heritage and inspired by Earth Jurisprudence – a legal philosophy and ethical framework conceived of by eco-theologian Thomas Berry in the late twentieth century. Through the lens of community stories and Earth Jurisprudence, panellists will explore the role of the sacred in farming and how the revival of traditional farming practices and indigenous seeds can strengthen a sacred human-Earth relationship.

Speakers:
Appolinaire Oussou Lio
Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson
Method Gundidza

Chair:
Liz Hosken

#ORFCGlobal​
https://orfc.org.uk/

Showing 657 out of 658