In October 2024, IT for Change, along with their Fair Green and Global Alliance partners, Samdhana Institute and Both ENDS visited a food forest in Ketelbroek, Netherlands. This polyculture system spanning six acres was established in 2009 by the Dutch food forestry pioneer, Wouter van Eek. This model demonstrates that food production is not antithetical to preserving biodiversity and provides a tangible alternative to mono farming practices, which typically benefit a select few rather than the collective. Inspired by forests in the tropics, particularly East Africa, it acts as a natural ecosystem and boasts high rates of food production in the extreme summers, a feat that monoculture farms, which often use pesticides and other toxins, cannot achieve.
The visit allowed the group to tangibly engage with what sustainable land use alternatives can look like and the need for mutual capacity development and knowledge exchange in order to effectively address the climate and biodiversity crises.
You can watch the full experience here.