Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 137 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

California's Latest Weapon Against Climate Change Is Low-Tech Farm Soil

Lauren Sommer

May 02, 2019 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Modesto, California

California’s Healthy Soils Initiative is providing funding for farmers across the state to grow cover crops that will help move carbon from the air to the soil. Doing so not only cleans the air, but helps the soil and crops retain moisture in a state that has often faced water scarcity. Besides being a response to climate change, the initiative has bridged the deep divide between California’s coastal and valley populations, showing that they need each other to respond to climate issues.

Read More
Go to Original Story
'It's a groundswell': the farmers fighting to save the Earth's soil

Matthew Taylor

April 24, 2019 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Governments, UN officials, and climate experts alike are ringing the alarm bells of growing soil degradation around the world. But a new agricultural movement is tackling this challenge head on. Instead of the centuries-old method of ploughing, or turning up the soil, farmers have recently taken to keeping their fields covered with varied plants year round, to keep soil healthier. Advocates also point to lower costs on machinery and labor, more resilient crops, and climate change dividends as added benefits as well.

Read More
Go to Original Story
California Has Farmers Growing Weeds. Why? To Capture Carbon

Lauren Sommer

April 22, 2019 |

KQED |

Multi-Media |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, California

Richer soil not only retains more water and minerals, it also trap carbon from the atmosphere absorbed by plants. As California works to meet its carbon neutral goal, the state is enlisting farmers in its climate change strategy. Grants from the state encourage California’s farmers to grow plants traditionally considered as weeds as a way to boost the amount of organic matter in the soil.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Can This Breakfast Cereal Help Save The Planet?

Dan Charles

April 13, 2019 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Human beings' reliance on crops like wheat and rice has a detrimental environmental effect: because these annual crops need replanting every year, farmers are required to destroy any existing vegetation in order to get the seeds to germinate. But scientists with the Land Institute are promoting kernza, a perennial relative of wheat that provides seeds year after year.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Farmers in Uttarakhand Look to the Past to Benefit the Future

Amrita Gupta

March 02, 2019 |

Earth Journalism Network |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: India, Uttarakhand

Mountains are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and a mountain city in India is finding sustainable solutions in traditional agriculture. Women overwhelmingly make up the farming workforce in Uttarakhand and are using a number of ways to combat the effects of the temperature increase. These solutions include bringing back an ancient grain, finger millet, to appeal to new tastes and dishes, storing seed banks of traditional varieties, and opening a cafe serving local food using the ancient grains to attract outside visitors.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Agroforestry helps Tajikistan farmers overcome resource pressures

Daniyar Serikov

January 02, 2019 |

Mongabay |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Tajikistan, Isfara

Many farmers in Tajikistan are transitioning from Soviet-era monoculture to agroforestry, a method that more closely mimics natural ecosystems. While the farms are small, many payoffs--good income, diverse crops, robust wildlife, and carbon sequestration, to name several--are being realized.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Millet anyone? Facing soil crisis, US farmers look beyond corn and soybeans

Story Hinckley Laurent Belsie

December 28, 2018 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Iowa

After decades of planting almost solely corn and soybeans, across the Midwest and Plains, farmers are trying new methods to restore nutrients and replenish their soils. Methods like no-till farming, growing diverse cover crops during the winter, and using soil-sensitive crop rotations are growing in popularity. While the new practices face some resistance, cultural awareness is growing and being encouraged by new legislation.

Read More
Go to Original Story
‘We see its value': Ugandan communities benefiting from agroforestry

Deusdedit Ruhangariyo

December 11, 2018 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Butanda

Communities across Uganda have been realizing the benefits of agroforestry, an old farming system that mimics natural ecosystems. Apart from creating a diverse, stable local food supply, the practice promotes soil health, bolsters biodiversity, creates wildlife habitat, and sequesters carbon. An NGO is working with communities to spread the practice across the region, with marked effect.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Agroforestry ‘home gardens' build community resilience in southern Ethiopia

Tesfa-Alem Tekle

December 04, 2018 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ethiopia, Bule

Farmers in Bule, Ethiopia, are practicing agroforestry, a diverse cropping method that mimics natural ecosystems. A survey found a stunning average of 16 crop species, including 21 species of tree, on farms. The benefits of the practice are myriad: food security, improved soil health, carbon sequestration, diversified revenue streams, and new wildlife habitat, to name several. While the incentive to grow valuable monocultures can be high, many growers stick with agroforestry regardless.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Indian tribe revives heirloom seeds for health and climate security

Sonali Prasad

November 30, 2018 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Rayagada

The women of India's Dongria Kondhs, with some assistance from grassroots organizations, are leading an effort to move away from monoculture and back to lost seed varieties. A community can grow as many as 50 plant varietals on a single farm. Not only do such practices empower growers to navigate pests and climate change, but also to improve health.

Read More
Go to Original Story