Interesting projects

Here we will be listing projects that could make a difference for a more sustainable agriculture. Your suggestions are most welcome. Please send them to miguel@orchardofflavours.com

Urban Forests

They are the Miyawaki method specialists in Europe for creating fast growing urban forests. These forests flourish on small plots of land. They are beautiful, participatory in the making, self-sustainable, and they provide many ecosystem services. Their website is very informative.

Food & Forests

Presenting themselves as “an organic agroforestry initiative driven by climate-smart technology”, Food & Forests is launching a sustainable, agritech platform in Kenya that connects smallholder farmers to accredited organic, carbon and financial markets. Starting with a 1.5-acre demo food forest at Manor House Agricultural Centre in Kitale, Kenya, they put African smallholder farmers at the centre of their design. The turnkey solution that follows is the most holistic and sustainable route to market for farmers. They are concentrating all their energy on harnessing the power of the 500+ million farmers worldwide to produce sustainably, heal the soil and reverse climate change.

Caravana Agroecológica

A really interesting Portuguese project started by a research group at Universidade de Lisboa, that aims at bringing together producers, consumers and researchers through agroecology. Among their on-going initiatives are Farmers Open Days, Agroecological Vegetable Gardens, and nationwide Caravan Routes, all of which carry a sharp focus on important themes of proximity consumption and responsible agricultural practices, while building and strengthening a sense of community across agroecology-centered projects in Portugal and their backers. They’re also raising awareness to agroecology-related issues through the production of content for local radio stations, as well as contributing to the creation of focus groups for public policy discussion.

Agroecology Europe

Agroecology Europe is a non-profit European association that intends to place agroecology high on the European agenda of sustainable development of farming and food systems, by facilitating knowledge sharing and action. Their concrete objectives include:

• engaging in and facilitating debates to clarify the relationship between agroecology and other approaches such as organic farming, permaculture, biodynamic farming, climate smart agriculture, ecological and sustainable intensification;

• supporting farmers’ organizations working in agroecology;

• acting as a think tank for facing present and future challenges of European agriculture;

• supporting governmental and non-governmental organizations in improving their capacities in agroecology.

Centro de Agroecologia de Mértola

Part of a broader project called Terra Sintrópica, the Agroecological Center of Mértola aims to be a beacon of regeneration in one of the driest and most challenging landscapes in Europe, the southeast of the Alentejo region of Portugal. Through their impressive work at Horta da Malhadinha and beyond, they are boosting a true agroecological transition movement by experimenting, monitorizing and demonstrating different techniques, strongly inspired by Ernst Gotsch’s Syntropic Farming approach, which we wrote about in this article.

Their mission: to fight back the increasing desertification wave we are now facing in Southern Europe, by applying the dynamics found in natural ecosystems to feed our communities while fulfilling other essential ecological functions.