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'It saved our business': Italy's farmers turn low into high with cannabis

Lorenzo Tondo

August 30, 2018 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Italy, Sicily

In Italy's farmland traditionally that has traditionally been known to grow wheat, farmers have recently found that growing non-pharmaceutical hemp yields greater profit. Allowing them to hire more workers and produce more results on their dry lands, many are crediting the crop for saving their business.

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How Ancient Grains and a Seed Bank Turned Life Around for Rural Women

Chhavi Sachdev

August 23, 2018 |

News Deeply |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Panchiyasaal, Gujarat

Gujarat is known to be very dry land, which makes planting annual crops a struggle for many farmers. Due to the determination of one farmer's wife, however, many are discovering that to be successful, they must diversify from only planting maize and look to millet as well.

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This perfume smells good–and does good

Eillie Anzilotti

August 17, 2018 |

FastCompany |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Afghanistan

The U.S. beauty industry often relies on outsourced labor and markets in order to create products for their specific clientele. To affect change from the inside, one social entrepreneur started a fragrance company dedicated to supporting the economic stability of farmers in war-torn countries.

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Pumpkin processing made easy

Lominda Afedraru

August 11, 2018 |

Daily Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Bulindi, Hoima

In the Hoima District in Uganda, pumpkin farming is proving to be a game-changer for local farmers. After one local university student began pursuing the viability of the vegetable, she has now started an initiative to teach others about the many uses of the plant that shows returns within days of planting.

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How beekeeping helped a Sorsogon coconut farm

Mavic Conde

August 11, 2018 |

Rappler |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Philippines, Sorsogon City

The use of local and native pollinators can greatly increase farm productivity. In the region of Sosorgon, in the Philippines, farmers who have begun using the local kiwot bees to pollinate coconut farms have noted significant increases in their yields. The Balay Buhau sa Uma Bee Farm (BBu) serves as a demo farm for the broader beeping project in the municipality of Bulusan, which aims to help farmers earn more in a sustainable fashion. This includes encouraging courses in apiculture and the use of affordable, low maintenance hives.

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Solar-Powered Pineapples: A Lifeline for Women Thrown Off Their Land

Robert Kibet

August 10, 2018 |

News Deeply |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Chamari

When a national park was created in Kenya, the local Waata hunter-gatherer community was displaced and forced to take refuge elsewhere while also adapting to a farming lifestyle. Choosing to cultivate pineapples because of their rapid growth rate, the women leading the farming practices initially struggled to be meaningfully compensated for their produce. After learning how about solar drying, however, the women saw a quick and lasting increase in their profits.

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The story of a recovery: how hurricane Maria boosted small farms

Amanda Holpuch

August 08, 2018 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Puerto Rico

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, not only were the local communities devastated, but so were 80 percent of the country's crops. With the farmlands wiped cleaned, farmers seized the opportunity to start from scratch which not only resulted in increased crop production, but has helped create an economy less reliant on imports.

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Struggling Farmers Turn Excess Milk Into Cheese And Yogurt For The Hungry

Catalina Jaramillo

July 02, 2018 |

NPR |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania

Cows will produce the same amount of milk no matter the demand for the product, and with supply staying steady and demand decreasing, a surplus of milk is thrown out routinely. Through a collaborative effort by farmers and a local non-profit in Pennsylvania, however, a solution has emerged that not only turns the extra milk into cheese and yogurt, but supplies the products to those in need.

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Climate change is making it harder to revive damaged land

Maya L. Kapoor

June 29, 2018 |

High Country News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Ecological restoration has primarily been defined as redirecting the land back to what it used to be in terms of wildlife and plant life. However, with climate change altering the earth's landscape, many scientists and land managers are shifting their attention to restoring the land in a way that precedes the future in order to give plants a chance at sustaining the imminent land change.

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Farmers staring at losses after India shuts door to ‘ndengu'

Kitavi Mutua

June 24, 2018 |

Nation Africa |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya

An initiative in Kenya showed major promise in pulling farmers out of poverty by supplying them with subsidized seeds to grow green grams, ndengu, for overseas markets. The success of the idea relied heavily on a promise by the prime minister of India to buy the entire crop, which triggered a series of steps to help the farmers grow grams and export them. But despite a bumper harvest, India banned importation of the crop to help its own farmers, leaving Kenyan officials to look at other options.

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