oakland institute kickstarter

Help ‘em out!

In the first 20 days of our Kickstarter project to raise funds for a film exposing land grabs in Papua New Guinea, we have raised over $11,000 from 66 individual contributors. The vast majority of those who have given are first-time supporters of the Oakland Institute, which is exciting to see. And we are grateful to our friends who have continued their partnership with OI.But for this project to be fully funded we need support from our longtime members, the people who keep OI moving, You!

land grabbing in china

say for intance you wanted to do agroforestry work in africa

you’d want to be involved with these folks:  Trees for the Future

Since 1989, Trees for the Future has been helping communities around the world plant trees. Through seed distribution, agroforestry training, and our country programs, we have empowered rural groups to restore tree cover to their lands. Planting trees protects the environment and helps to preserve traditional livelihoods and cultures for generations.

we ought to have a prince of organic here in america

Prince Charles: ‘If I didn’t do this, who would?’
Britain’s best known organic farmer on soil, sustainability and the unity of all things
by  Tim Adams for The Observer, Sunday 14 August 2011

There is a sign as you turn into the drive at Highgrove that reads: “Beware. You are entering an old-fashioned establishment”. After the best part of the week following the sign’s owner, Prince Charles, around the country – from Dartmoor to the Yorkshire Dales and back to Gloucestershire, him mostly in a helicopter, me mostly on a train – I have been struggling to work out exactly how old that “old-fashioned” is.

reversing desertification with livestock

Here’s a great article passed on to us by greenhorn Emma Young.

The Savory Institute: Healing the World’s Grasslands, Rangelands and Savannas
This is the first of a two-part interview with Allan Savory, President and Co-Founder of The Savory Institute, an organization based in Zimbabwe that works with farmers, pastoralists, and ranchers to restore degraded lands through holistic management practices. Savory is a winner of the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, which awards recipients for innovative thinking to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Livestock production, particularly cattle, has been blamed in recent years for environmental degradation on both the local and global scales. Do you agree with this perspective?

Yes, livestock are blamed for environmental degradation, and rightly so. They have been blamed for thousands of years, as livestock grazing and burning of grasslands caused the great man-made deserts of the world.

coffee csa

Nora of Strongtree Organic Coffee Roasters in Hudson says that the specialty coffee market is screaming about global climate change, crop failures, drought, supply chain dysfunction, and in general the feeling that their sector is a canary in the coal mine of the global food system.

here is a small project that is quite hopeful,  but in general the meta-narrative keeps being gloomy.

CoffeeCSA.orgis 100% owned and controlled by the farmers featured on this siteWhen you buy a share of the harvest at CoffeeCSA, you get the best of the crop while helping to fund next year’s harvest and strengthen small-scale family farms. CoffeeCSA offers you great coffee and a meaningful relationship with a hard-working farm family.

european young farmer stats

a good model. from the  The European Council of Young Farmers

post carbon fellows

from the Post Carbon Institute.

Post Carbon Institute has assembled 28 of the world’s leading minds in the areas of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. While their areas of expertise range far and wide, one shared question binds them:

How do we manage the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world?

Read more about the fellows here

the wanas foundation

The Wanås Foundation is a non-profit art foundation located in the south of Sweden on an estate consisting of a medieval castle, an organic farm, and a sculpture park.

Since 1987, the Park holds a constantly growing number of permanent works by internationally renowned contemporary artists. The focus is on sculpture and installations, most of which are made by the artists specifically for the Wanås Foundation. In 2005, the renovated Stable from 1759 was inaugurated as a temporary exhibition space. A catalogue is published for every exhibition.

composting toilets in Haiti

Cote de Fer is a commune in the Southeast department of Haiti. There are 6 communal sections and approximately 64,000 people. It is estimated that at least 70% of the population in this region does not have access to a toilet.

Cote de Fer is a very agricultural region and the majority of families depend on the land for their income. Fertilizers are very expensive and soil fertility is declining, making this a good location to initiate a composting toilet program. SOL was invited to Cote de Fer by the former mayor and deputy from the region and several peasant groups.

SOL National Coordinator, Marcorel, traveled to Cote de Fer in March to meet with representatives of each of Cote de Fer’s 6 rural sections to discuss the project and decide on a location for the demonstration site. Approximately 35 people attended the initial meeting and the group decided on the neighborhood of Gris Gris for the demonstration site. The group chose Gris Gris because of its rural location. It was agreed that families in this region would be the most likely to benefit from both the sanitation and fertilizer aspects of the composting toilet project. The exact location chosen was close to the Gris Gris market where hundreds of people gather each Weds and Sun. This location will ensure high visibility and maximum accessibility.

continue reading here

european farmers protesting!

from the ny times, with quite an amazing photo!

European Farmers’ Anger Spills Into the Streets of Brussels
BRUSSELS — After months of complaints by European dairy farmers angry over low prices, protesters in Brussels on Monday poured milk onto the streets, hurled eggs and other missiles, and started fires that filled the air with black smoke.

Police helicopters hovered overhead as hundreds of tractors — and some cattle — blockaded the area outside the European Union’s headquarters while agriculture ministers met in an emergency meeting.

continue reading here

organic studies centre

if any of you out there happen to be in the UK, this day course sounds amazing.

Garden Organic Open Day on Managing the future of your soil: the role of green manures
August 5th, 2009
Duchy College Rosewarne with:

Choosing the right type of green manure
Anton Rosenfeld—Garden Organic

news from a goat-milking greenhorn in spain

We just got word from Greenhorn Talia Kahn-Kravis, who’s busy spreading the good greenhorns vibes in the mountains of Spain!  Talia worked with us all of last year, maintaining databases and tending the geese and ducks among other valiant efforts for the cause.  Keep up the good work, Talia!

i have been in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of spain milkin them goats!- and off the grid. woohoo! there is now a baby goat in galicia named Talia! maybe she can be the first goat greenhorn? the area that this farm and baby talia live in is a ghost town- full of crumbling abandoned houses.

New Release: A New Report Issues a Challenge to Western-led Plans for a GE Revolution in Africa

A New Report From the Oakland Institute Issues a Challenge to Western-led Plans for a Genetically Engineered Revolution in African Agriculture

Voices From Africa: African Farmers & Environmentalists Speak Out Against a New Green Revolution in Africa

Oakland, CA: A new report from the Oakland Institute, Voices from Africa: African Farmers & Environmentalists Speak Out Against a New Green Revolution in Africa, issues a direct challenge to Western-led plans for a genetically engineered revolution in African agriculture, particularly the recent misguided philanthropic efforts of the Gates Foundation’s Alliance for a New Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and presents African resistance and solutions rooted in first-hand knowledge of what Africans need.