Developing eco-social resilience so Farmers can help themselves, their neighbors & the planet!
If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go FAR, go together.
Because food security and environmental health go hand in hand, our goal is to build expertise in farming communities around the world about practical options for improving yields and livelihoods using ecologically regenerative approaches. FAR is a non-profit program training and supporting family farmers in the design of sustainable food systems, and the benefits of working collaboratively to improve their local economy and environment.
What is the
Farmers Alliance for Restoration?
We engage with farming communities in a process of self-empowerment to revitalize their local environments and economies. They can restore ecosystems and social systems to achieve eco-social resilience. We partner with existing local permaculture training centers to deliver the program so we don’t reinvent the wheel. This fast tracks our services to our farmers as there is no delay in getting up to speed with the community’s language, customs, indigenous crops, climate, and challenges. The training center, as part of the community, selects a group of lead farmers who will receive an intensive 2 year training on regenerative agriculture. The farmers themselves co-design the curriculum so that they learn what is most useful and relevant to them. These lead farmers in turn teach their neighbors on these principles and techniques, building a community of practice and cooperation among their neighbors.
RESTORING:
Livelihoods
Water
Communities
Soil
Ecosystems
LIVELIHOODS
Farmers learn to grow food to meet their families’ nutritional needs, with a surplus to share with their community, and grow multiple cash crops in an ecosystem that is much less vulnerable to significant climatic changes. This is the benefit of eco-social resilience. Farmers earn more by eliminating costly inputs and working together to select appropriate crops and gain better access to markets- enough to support their families and send their kids to school.
WATER
The permaculture training the farmers receive helps them redesign their farms to make full use of the available water. By practicing agro-ecological farming methods, they eliminate the danger of water pollution from improper land use and create drought-resilience.
COMMUNITIES
The more we study the outcomes of development efforts, the clearer it becomes that lasting improvements for local communities only come about when the community itself owns the process and takes full responsibility for working together to create a better future for themselves. We have developed a program that gives ownership to the farmers
SOIL
Farming communities counter the huge threat of deteriorating soil quality by increasing organic matter and reversing topsoil compaction, soil pollution, and nutrient loss. Learning how to compost turns waste into a renewable resource and reduces the need to buy and be exposed to chemical fertilizers.
ECOSYSTEMS
Farmers are working on the frontline between human communities and the rest of this living planet. By creating biodiverse farms that include wild spaces around their communities, they are not just reducing environmental damage which protects their own land, but they are also creating habitat for many species, including birds and beneficial insects.
