Archive

1. Groundswell International

   2023-01-06 2:11 pm Comments Off on Groundswell International

   Groundswell International was founded in 2009 by representatives all over the world, who came together to create a partnership that draws on decades of collaboration and experience of developing effective approaches for strengthening community-led social change in Africa, the Americas and Asia.

   As stated in Groundswell’s book ‘Fertile Ground: Scaling AE [Agroecology] from the Ground Up’, “There are about 2.5 billion people in the world, on 500 million farms, involved with smallholder family agriculture and food production. Their creative capacity to farm productively and sustainable with nature, instead of against it, is perhaps the most powerful force that can be unleashed to overcome the interlinking challenges of hunger, poverty, climate change, and environmental degradation.”

   Groundswell joined forces around the mission of strengthening communities to build healthy farming and food systems from the ground up, while contributing to the growing global agroecology and food sovereignty movement.

   It strengthens the capacity and effectiveness of local partner organisations, which in turn empower communities, farmers, and indigenous organisations to lead social change. It does this via various means, including:

   • Collaborative design processes for programmes
   • Facilitation of reciprocal learning between partners and allies
   • Support for technical and methodological training

   In 2021 Groundswell provided $1,541,000 to partner organisations, contributing to a total of over $13,727,000 distributed to partner programs since 2009.

   Its work not only regenerates land impacted by climate change, but also creates economic benefits for those involved, improves health and nutrition, and reduces incentives for migration with a focus on gender equity.

2. Tribes and Natures Defenders Inc.

   11:44 am Comments Off on Tribes and Natures Defenders Inc.

   Tribes and Natures Defenders Inc was founded in 2007 and is based in the Philippines. The organisation is comprised of local indigenous people and embeds the teaching of the elders.

   It works to protect existing rainforest, restore the degraded mountains in the tribal communities, preserve ancient wisdom and empower young people to become the next eco-warriors for the future generations.

   It works towards community, spiritual, cultural, economic and environmental regeneration, drawing on elder knowledge to fully grasp the essence of the holistic approach in protecting humanity and nature.

   The organisation’s projects exist to benefit the tribal members as well as the wider ecosystem and has focused on:

   • Food security
   • Wildlife protection
   • Peace and nature connectivity training
   • Preservation of ancient cultures.

   It also prioritises economic aspects of tribal communities because it believes that the economic development of communities is key to stopping the destruction of the mother earth, and preventing the arrival of capitalist mining and logging.

3. Masungi Georeserve Foundation

   2021-07-18 2:40 pm Comments Off on Masungi Georeserve Foundation

   Masungi Georeserve Foundation is dedicated to the restoration of some 3,000 hectares of limestone formations and to supporting the threatened biodiversity in the mountains of Baras, Rizal, Philippines.

   Its Masungi Geopark Project is one of the largest collaborative reforestation efforts in the country, in an area which is heavily threatened by large-scale mining, land speculation, and timber-poaching, including illegal activities.

   The team faces multiple threats, such as harassment from quarrying entities.  Despite this, the project has increased measures to protect the area from activities like quarrying and land grabbing.

   Their efforts include community development: park rangers are locals of the community, including some of those previously involved in illegal activities within the watershed. The project engages continuously with the Indigenous Community within the area to develop non-timber forest products to help boost their livelihood.

4. Salay Handmade Products

   2018-02-09 12:04 pm Comments Off on Salay Handmade Products

   Salay Handmade manufactures handmade paper products and crafts made of indigenous materials. It was set up to address unemployment and poverty caused by the insurgency affecting the community of Salay in the Philippines. It has given opportunities to 150-400 disadvantaged producers to pursue a decent livelihood in paper making, crafting and card design.

   Salay is now known for its art in paper making as a livelihood project and for fostering peace and international friendship. The project also serves as a promoter for local tourism, employment generation and is a major contributor to the vibrancy of the local economy as it trades globally but impacts locally.