A collaborative project between farmers in northwest Tanzania’s Karagwe District, the development organization Community Habitat Environmental Management and Matunda Mema, an organic produce exporter, demonstrates that small-scale East African farmers can benefit from the growing demand for organic products.

Since 1984 the Keita Rural Development Project has focused on restoring the area’s ecological balance and pursuing social and economic development. The project was critical in stemming ecosystem degradation resulting from climate change and human activities while improving livelihoods and increasing food production.

Rodale Institute Regenerative Agriculture Research Center teamed up with farmers’ groups and government researchers in Senegal to promote regenerative agriculture to increase food sufficiency, lessen farmers’ dependence on external inputs, and improve soil quality.

The highly weathered soils of West Africa’s semi-arid Sudanian and Sahelian agro-ecological regions suffer from naturally low levels of organic matter that have been further degraded by agricultural intensification and shifting cropping patterns. Additional organic matter, such as compost, is vital to improving the soil’s water-holding capacity and long-term fertility....

Cotton production presents a double bind for West African smallholder farmers, providing much-needed cash income through a chemically intensive production system that has a negative effect on human and environmental health. Global market volatility is also problematic, leaving many farmers saddled with debt when prices fall. In contrast, organic cotton...

Small-scale, resource-poor farmers organize fair trade grower cooperatives to market certified organic cocoa exports from post-war Sierra Leone