In an era of widespread global conflict, environmental degradation, and expanding hunger and famine, agriculture can be a major solution pathway to global challenges. Whether you use sustainable, regenerative, climate smart, resilient or some other phrase to define successful agriculture, the good news is that the sector can produce more than nutritious food, feed, fiber and fuel; it can also filter and store water, recycle nutrients, enhance biodiversity and through photosynthesis, sequester carbon in the soil and produce oxygen to support life on earth.
Advancing agricultural solutions to global challenges including the triple threats of food/nutrition insecurity, climate change and biodiversity loss take the efforts of many farmers, ranchers, fishers and foresters and their partners. As a non-partisan, farmer/scientist led not-for-profit organization, Solutions from the Land (SfL) works from the ground up, by facilitating and supporting self-directed, farmer, rancher, forester and fisher work groups that collaborate with their value chain, academic and government partners in developing pragmatic action plans to guide future policies, programs, partnerships and investments needed for agriculture to adapt and thrive.
Results of our bottom-up efforts are showcased in the reports that three of our state affiliates released last year.
In Cross-Boundary Collaboration in Large Landscape Management: Anticipating and Managing for Climate Disruption and Continuous Change in Western Grassland-Forest Working Landscapes, our Headwaters of the Colorado River leaders call for private-public partnerships that move from large landscape design and planning, to pulling people through planning into implementation of conservation in grassland-forest ecosystems.
In their Healthy Farms – Healthy Bays: Harmony Between Land and Sea in Florida report, Florida Smart Agriculture leaders show how upland farmers and ranchers with downstream aquatic ecosystem stakeholders can work together towards a future where healthy and productive ecosystems, bays, rivers and streams are underpinned and supported by a vibrant, sustainable agriculture and fishing economy.
Similarly, the “Indiana Smart Agriculture: Building a Resilient Future for Indiana Farms and Forests” report lays out recommendations to ensure that Indiana agriculture remains vibrant, innovative, resilient and productive for generations to come.
While Western U.S., Florida and Indiana agriculture are very different, the project leaders in these regions share a common objective- the desire to be relevant, respected, valued and rewarded for the full range of goods and ecosystem services their farms, ranches and woodlands deliver.
Over the past two decades we have learned much from the network of state and regional projects we have had the honor and privilege to support. Motivated and informed by these experiences we have been widely socializing their groundbreaking work in our interventions in global forums where decisions about the future of agriculture are shaped.
In developing our Global POW 2025-2027, SfL has updated our Guiding Principles to Enable Agriculture and Food Systems to Support Sustainable Development Goal Attainment to reflect our new learnings. The principles outline essential foundational factors that we believe should be used to shape decisions affecting the future of agriculture and food systems including:
- Farmers must be at the center of all agriculture and food systems discussions and decision-making.
- There is no “silver bullet” solution for enhancing the resilience of agriculture and food systems.
- Science-based decision making, in conjunction with farmer and indigenous innovation.
- System approaches and context-specific priorities and solutions
- Context-specific priorities and solutions.
SfL’s vision is “a 21st century agricultural renaissance led by innovative and entrepreneurial farmers, ranchers, and foresters constructing sustainable, profitable, and resilient systems that lay the foundation for a world of abundance on many scales”. We invite those who share this vision to join us in the quest to secure its attainment.
