Regenerative Agriculture Solutions

Ukinaawo is the word for 'environment' in Jola, a local Gambian language, and is the name of Micro-Soleil's pilot project in The Gambia, which works with farming in the context of the whole environment. 

We work with communities of farmers to integrate traditional knowledge with new expertise and engage in continuous collective learning about what agricultural practices will enrich the soil, and increase yields and incomes.  Farmers bring their traditional knowledge of farming in their particular region; their experience, land, labor, and cell phones. 

Our tailored initiative is designed for the semi-arid tropics of Africa, helping farmers combat climate change challenges and achieve sustainable agriculture. We bring expertise in various ‘technologies’:  biochar, windbreaks, regenerative farming to improve soil organic content, geo-location, data collection and analysis, yield tracking, and soil carbon content measurement.  As farmers and Ukinaawo work together, each growing season is a learning opportunity

One of our solutions is to experiment with and encourage the planting of resilient native crops that may have been neglected in recent decades in favor of cash crops.  For example, Findi (in Mandinka) and Fonio (in Wolof) a grass native to West Africa, are highly drought tolerant, pest resistant, and fast-growing, requiring virtually no intervention between sowing and harvest.  It is also highly nutritious.  However, it fell out of favor due to the difficulty of husking it.  The provision of a simple husking machine to a group of villages could return entire fields to the cultivation of this heritage crop. 

Building a network of communities of small farmers and experts to share knowledge, resources, and support for a resilient agricultural ecosystem in Africa.

In each local area (beginning in The Gambia, and extending to the Kavango region of Namibia by the end of the year) we gather groups of farmers, teach and work with them to learn and test diverse, complementary agricultural practices that work with nature.  We respond to the specificities of each locality, to increase yields even in the challenging conditions of the changing climate:  making biochar and using it as a soil additive, to restore soil organic content; replanting farm landscapes with native trees, to lower wind speeds and reduce erosion; intercropping annual and tree crops to manage pests without chemicals; planting of native grasses to trap water flowing on the surface of land and help it percolate into the soil.