Charlotte Dufour, Practice Advisor, Conscious Food Systems Alliance
Noemi Altobelli, Community Manager, Conscious Food Systems Alliance
Gary Belkin, Chair of COP2 and Director of the Billion Minds Project
26 February 2024
How can our food system be healthy if the farmers at its heart are not?
Farmers world-wide are the ones who nourish us; they are the pillars of our food systems, and the foundation of our lives. They are also on the frontline of climate change and the first to bear its impacts. They are at the mercy of unequitable market forces they do not control. Many face economic hardship, particularly daily labourers who represent the majority of those working the land, herding livestock or fishing. Many farmers report feeling isolated and misunderstood.
Unsurprisingly these challenges affect farmers’ well-being: depression and suicide rates are, in most countries, higher than in the general population. Farmers’ psychological resilience and mental health receives little public or political attention, and yet it is essential: how can our food systems be healthy if those who are at its heart are not?
With growing environmental awareness, the calls to care for Nature, the land, the soils, are rising…this awareness should expand to include care for the caretakers of the land. From this concern, a natural partnership emerged: one between the Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA) and COP2 (“Care of People x Planet”). CoFSA is a movement of food, agriculture, and consciousness practitioners working to support people to cultivate the “inner capacities” that activate systemic change. COP² is a global network of 450+ organisations facilitated and managed by the Billion Minds Project. It works to embed psychological resilience within climate resilience.
Together, we launched an online conversation in July 2023 on farmers’ psychological resilience and well-being. This dialogue between 72 participants from around the world included farmers, professionals working alongside farmers, and supportive citizens. We held space for this encounter with humility, aware of who is not in the room and of the sensitivity of the topic, which is an object of taboo in many societies. This was a space for deep listening, empathy, admiration and gratitude for the work farmers do around the world.
The picture that emerged from the exchanges in small groups was one of light and shadows. We heard about the satisfaction of farming that comes from the intimate connection to the land and the joy of seeing and tasting the fruit of one’s patient labour and care.
“When you are working the land, and finally you see the coffee – after the work of planting the seeds, caring for them, negotiating with them – the joy that is generated is great, but the endeavour is also a big challenge.”
– Maria-Clara, coffee grower, Colombia
But we also heard a lot about the “waves of challenges that unfold in the course of the days and the cycle of the seasons”, which include:
- Economic challenges: food price variations, erratic and inequitable market dynamics, limited government support, the difficulty to find and pay the required labour on one hand and poor income on the other… all these factors lead to financial distress. Farmers bear the weight of many responsibilities alongside farming such as management and marketing. Paradoxically, tenant farmers (those who farm the land without owning it) are often the most exposed to food insecurity and malnutrition.
- Climate change (droughts, floods, pests…) and unpredictable weather patterns lead to harvest losses and difficulties in planning farming activities and investments.
- The social challenges are many: the lack of appreciation for the work of farmers, misunderstandings about the constraints they face; geographical and social isolation; the disconnect between farmers and consumers; the high workload of women who often combine domestic and livelihood tasks but with lower pay, poor access to land, services and credit… Many young people are leaving the land, breaking the lineage of farmers, while those who wish to return to the land often struggle to find the support they need.
- The physical health challenges that result from intensive labour under tough climatic conditions and exposure to agro-chemicals also came to the fore.
We heard “stories of overwhelm”. The causes of distress are many. They are ultimately reflected in the mental health and well-being of the main caretakers of our food systems, who often have nowhere to share their feelings and find support.
But from the sharings also emerged a “sense of hope” and stories of solutions. These solutions draw on growing global experience and evidence in how to approach mental health as a community resource that can be strengthened and healed through skill-building of community members and bolstering of social capital. These were so inspiring that they became the topic of a follow-on “in-depth session” held in September 2023.
Photo: the word cloud created by participants response to the questions “what does farming and the work of farmers evoke for you?”
Inspiring examples of support to farmers
In this second session we heard from:
- Atmiyata: an innovative and evidence-based community-led intervention designed and implemented by the Center for Mental Health Law and Policy, ILS, Pune, India, which bridges the mental health and social care gap in low-resourced communities. They do so by tapping into existing social capital, by identifying, training and mentoring community volunteers to conduct four activities: (i) identify persons with common mental disorders (CMD) and provide 4–6 sessions of evidence-based counselling; (ii) raise community awareness by showing four films to 3-4 community members on social determinants to mental health on an Atmiyata smartphone; (iii) make referrals of persons with severe mental health conditions to public mental health services when required, and (iv) enable access to social care benefits to increase financial stab A randomized implementation trial in one district of one million rural adult population in the state of Gujarat found that persons who received counselling from Atmiyata volunteers were two times more likely to have recovered from a CMD at 3 months and 3 times more likely at 8 months. This highly scalable programme started in 2013, from 41 villages has grown exponentially and will be present in 1890 villages across 7 districts and 5 states in India by 2024, with support from 2500 community volunteers (Atmiyata Champions), covering a total rural adult population of 3.5 million.
- The FAO Dimitra Clubs: informal community-led groups of rural women and men who come together to collectively address common challenges to improve their livelihoods, leveraging their own resources, talents, and capacities. With over 10,000 Dimitra Clubs primarily situated in sub-Saharan Africa, comprising 300,000 members, these initiatives have positively impacted the lives of approximately 8 million rural smallholder farmers across 17 countries. While psychological resilience was not initially a targeted outcome of the Dimitra Clubs, experience shows that they have had notable impacts in areas such as women’s leadership, resilience, peace-consolidation, solidarity and adaptation. Their initiatives are playing a crucial role to break isolation, give a voice that counts to all and enhance both individual and collective well-being.
- The SEKEM integrative health model: ‘RifQa ريفقا’ means tenderness and companionship in Arabic, it is an integrative health service at the SEKEM community in Egypt. SEKEM is cooperating with the ‘Eco Health’ insurance company to provide wellbeing awareness programs and one-on-one complementary therapies to farmers who have converted to organic farming for boosting relaxation and reducing stress to prevent mental and physical These services are also offered to the farmers’ family members. Connection, art, beauty and the cultivation of joy are part of a holistic approach to farming and farmers’ well-being.
While these examples are unfolding in diverse geographical and cultural contexts, they have these features in common:
- They are grounded in and co-designed with communities: they open spaces where community members support each other and empower each other, with limited external resources.
- They take a holistic approach where life, livelihoods, societal and family dynamics are interwoven.
- They choose a positive focus, speaking “the language of wellness” to avoid the stigma associated with disease and depression; they support activities that bring joy.
- They draw scientific evidence from the field of global mental health as well as a range of cultural and local knowledges.
From all the stories of hope and solutions we heard during the two online events, two elements stand out strongly:
- The importance of CONNECTION: Connection between people, including between generations, but also connection with the land: the potential for regenerative agriculture was emphasized, not only as a means of regenerating soils and farming systems, but also as a source of nourishment – in all senses of the word – for the farmers who embrace its holistic approach.
- The importance of COMMUNITY. Community as a space for sharing, for supporting each other, for creating solutions. The building or strengthening of community ties – through “talking and listening circles” for example – was essential in all the stories of successful support to farmers on the ground.
As we contemplate where we go from here, the same two words stand out:
Connection and Community
“There would be real power to create a community where we share the knowledge and insights, the hardships and the triumphs.”
– Holly, group facilitator
We experienced the value of creating a space where farmers from around the world feel heard; a space for sharing across countries and organisations, for inspiring each other, for creating connections that foster powerful collaborations. For example, the second session led to Atmiyata and Dimitra joining “Early Adopter” efforts of COP2 and the Billion Minds Project that are part of its “Roadmap” strategy for how global-sized mobilizations for growing climate resilience capacity such as the Race to Resilience can embed the work of similar growing capacity for “psychological resilience.”
“Being listened to, as a farmer, being able to speak, is so powerful – this has also a role in resilience.”
– Maria Clara, coffee grower, Colombia
We in CoFSA and COP2 are committed to keeping this space open, to growing this community, to continue fostering the connections. Our next encounter will be held as a “Town Hall meeting” on March 27th 2024 at 3pm CET. It will be an opportunity for participants to explore in more depth the ways we can accompany farmers and continue inspiring and supporting each other. Register to the event!
“As we were in our group, it felt we were holding the space for “palabreando”, a tradition in Colombia and various indigenous communities, which means (in Spanish) ‘the use of the word’. This is how communities deal with everything – with problems, with questions, with what the future will look like, with how to deal with situations. There is a lot to it. It felt like we were sitting around the fire.”
– Maria Soledad Riestra, group facilitator
Will you join us around the fire?
