DOCSLIB.ORG

Organic Food Systems

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Organic Food Systems Organic Food Systems Meeting the Needs of Southern Africa Organic Food Systems Meeting the Needs of Southern Africa Edited by Raymond Auerbach Nelson Mandela University, George, South Africa CABI is a trading name of CAB International CABI CABI Nosworthy Way 745 Atlantic Avenue Wallingford 8th Floor Oxfordshire OX10 8DE Boston, MA 02111 UK USA Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111 Tel: +1 (617)682-9015 Fax: +44 (0)1491 833508 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cabi.org © CAB International 2020. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any meanks, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Auerbach, Raymond, 1953- editor. Title: Organic food systems : meeting the needs of Southern Africa / editor: Raymond Auerbach. Description: Boston, MA : CAB International, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019016398| ISBN 9781786399601 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781786399625 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Organic farming--South Africa. | Organic farming--Zambia. | Organic farming--Uganda. | Organic farming-- Tanzania. Classification: LCC S605.5 .O6795 2019 | DDC 631.5/840968--dc23 LC record available at HYPERLINK “https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/ aUzGC7p0nHZOnLIWUpjt?domain=lccn.loc.gov” https://lccn.loc. gov/2019016398 ISBN-13: 978 1 78639 960 1 (hardback) Commissioning editor: Dave Hemming Editorial assistant: Tabitha Jay Production editor: Marta Patiño Typeset by SPi, Pondicherry, India Printed and bound in the UK by Severn, Gloucester Dedicated to my teachers Allexei de Podolinsky Ingrid Adler Jeanne Malherbe and Robert Mazibuko. Contents Contributors xi Foreword xxi Acknowledgements xxiii List of Abbreviations xxv Introduction xxix Raymond Auerbach Part 1 Conceptual and Global Perspectives 1 1 The Developing Organic Sector in Southern and Eastern Africa: What Have We Learned About Sustainable Development? 3 Raymond Auerbach 2 An Overview of Global Organic and Regenerative Agriculture Movements 21 Andre Leu 3 Organic Research Contributes to Sector Development and Good Organic Policy: the Danish, Swiss, American and African Case Studies 32 Raymond Auerbach 4 The Organic Academy of IFOAM-Organics International: Training Multipliers in the Developing World 42 Konrad Hauptfleisch 5 Understanding a Food Systems Approach 51 Carola Strassner and Johannes Kahl 6 BERAS – a Global Network of Food Systems with Examples from Sweden, Haiti, Tanzania and India 60 Jostein Hertwig vii viii Contents Part 2 Capacity Building and Climate Change 79 7 The Likely Impact of the 2015–2018 Drought in South Africa: Lessons From the 2008 Food Price Crisis and Future Implications 81 Raymond Auerbach, Hannelise Piek, Jane Battersby, Stephen Devereux and Nic Olivier 8 The Use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to Support Organic Food Systems in Africa 100 Raymond Auerbach 9 Strengthening Participation in the Organic Value Chain for Small-scale Farmers in Southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 113 Wim Troosters, Raymond Auerbach and Gareth Haysom 10 Participatory Guarantee Systems as an Organic Market Entry Point for Small-scale Farmers in South Africa 130 N’wa-Jama Mashele and Raymond Auerbach 11 Development of an Inclusive Value Chain for Peri-urban Micro-farmers 139 Matthew Purkis 12 Supporting Vulnerable Communities in the Eastern Cape: Assessing the Rainfall Evidence 151 Raymond Auerbach 13 Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Suburban Vegetable Production 176 Raymond Auerbach and Anastasia Caude 14 Experiential Training of Farmers and University Diploma Students in KwaZulu-Natal and the Southern Cape 185 Raymond Auerbach Part 3 Supporting Organic Farmers 197 15 The National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda 199 Jane Nalunga, Raymond Auerbach and Charles Ssekyewa 16 Factors Contributing to Adoption or Disadoption of Organic Agriculture in Zambia 209 Robert Munthali, Raymond Auerbach and Mebelo Mataa 17 The Rapid Incineration Field Test as an Accurate, Cost-effective and Practical Tool for Estimating Soil Carbon in Africa 217 Albert Ackhurst, Raymond Auerbach and Josua Louw 18 The Nelson Mandela Long-term Comparative Organic Farming Systems Research Trials: Baseline Study and Trial Design 233 Raymond Auerbach, N’wa-Jama Mashele and Catherine Eckert 19 Comparative Water Use Efficiency and Water Retention in the Mandela Trials 250 Catherine Eckert, Raymond Auerbach and Simon Lorentz Contents ix 20 Biological and Chemical Soil Fumigation and Pest and Disease Management Comparisons in the Western Cape 264 Abraham van Niekerk, Raymond Auerbach and Sandra Lamprecht 21 Initial Assessment of Selected Biological Soil Health Indicators in Organic Versus Conventional Cropping Systems in Field Trials in South Africa 284 Mandla Sibiya, Johan Habig, Sheila Storey and Nico Labuschagne 22 Soil Fertility Changes and Crop Yields from the First 4 Years of the Mandela Trials 303 Marike Swanepoel, Raymond Auerbach and N’wa-Jama Mashele Part 4 Upscaling the Organic Sector in Africa 325 23 Urban Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Water Management and Planning 327 Maren Wesselow, Christina Kifunda, Raymond Auerbach and Bernd Siebenhüner 24 A Future Strategy for Organic Development in Southern Africa 337 Raymond Auerbach, Matthew Purkis (and SAOSO Steering Committee) Index 357 Contributors Albert Ackhurst (Nelson Mandela University) Albert is a conservation scientist, botanist and soil carbon scientist. He holds a BSc (natural sciences), BSc Hons (botany), BCom Hons (training management) and an MTech on the subject of his chapter (the rapid incineration field test for soil organic carbon). He is currently the Head of Biodiversity, with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape. He is the Co-chair of the Honeybush Community of Practice, and is also qualified and experienced as a human capital and training specialist, owner/director of SCELETIA (Pty) Ltd, an African herbal tea company, and founder-member/ex-director of THE GREEN TICKET (specializing in agroforestry and biodiversity economies). He is active in the fields of ecological in- frastructure, sustainable natural resource management, community development, business intel- ligence, citizen science and the creation of green-collar jobs. Albert specializes in biodiversity economies, biodiversity policy and strategy development, natural and human resources modelling, project design and development, and learning/training development. Raymond Auerbach (Nelson Mandela University, co-/supervisor to students listed) Raymond trained in organic vegetable production at Camphill Hermanus in 1972, and then did an apprenticeship in biodynamic farming with the Australian Institute for BioDynamic Agriculture from 1973 to 1976, with Alex de Podolinsky and Dr Andrew Sargood. He farmed organically until 2002 in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), trained farmers in organic farming (through his Rainman Land- care Foundation) from 2000 until 2010, and taught soil science and plant production at Nelson Mandela University (George Campus) from 2010 to 2018; he still coordinates their Agroecology Research Group. He runs the African Organic Farming Systems Research project (funded by the South African (SA) National Research Foundation, NRF), and leads projects for the Centre of Excellence in Food Security (with the universities of the Western Cape and Pretoria); he is lead researcher with ecosystem-based solutions for resilient urban agriculture (ECOSOLA) project (with the University of Dar es Salaam and Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg), and teaches ‘Sys- tems and technologies for sustainable agriculture’ at Stellenbosch University’s Sustainability Insti- tute, where he is an extraordinary professor. Raymond is a founder member of the BioDynamic Agricultural Association of Southern Africa, and the Sustainable Organic Agriculture Action Net- work International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM). He is on the Steering Committees of the SA Organic Sector Organisation (SAOSO) and Participatory Guarantee Systems – SA (PGS-SA) and is Chair of the Outeniqua Natural and Organic PGS. He is a trustee of the Garden Route Botanical Garden. Having farmed organically for 20 years and trained farmers for 20 years, he is now in the middle of 20 years of research, consulting and policy advocacy. xi xii Contributors Jane Battersby (University of Cape Town) Jane Battersby is a senior researcher at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town, and is the Research Co-ordinator of the ‘Consuming Urban Poverty’ project and Project Investigator of the ‘Nourishing Spaces’ project. An urban geographer by training, her work focuses on urban food security, food systems and governance. Jane is currently the Premio Daniel Carasso (prize winner for 2018) and is on the Independent Expert Group of the Global Nutrition Report. She has served in an advisory or consultant role to a number of United Nations (UN) agencies. Anastasia Caude (Nelson Mandela University intern) Anastasia has always had an interest in how the world works, and speaks French, Spanish and English; she has lived much of her life in Mauritius. She has a lively understanding of many of the issues around sustainable food systems and agroecology, and completed an agronomy degree at Polytechnique Unilasalle. She is currently
Load more

Recommended publications
  • New Non-Fiction July–December 2012 World Today
    FLORIS BOOKS New Non-fiction July–December 2012 Taking Appearance Seriously Philosophy The Dynamic Way of Seeing in Goethe and European Thought HENRI BORTOFT The history of western metaphysics from Plato onwards is dominated by the dualism of being and appearance. What something really is (its true being) is believed to be hidden behind the 'mere appearances' through which it manifests. Twentieth-century European thinkers radically overturned this way of thinking. 'Appearance' began to be taken seriously, with the observer participating in the dynamic event of perception. In this important book, Henri Bortoft guides us through this dynamic way of seeing, exploring issues including how we distinguish things, how we find meaning, and the relationship between thought and words. A renowned thinker explores a dynamic Expanding the scope of his previous book, The Wholeness of Nature, Bortoft shows how Goethean insights combine with this way of seeing and experiencing dynamic way of seeing in continental philosophy, to offer an actively experienced 'life of meaning'. Henri Bortoft is a physicist with an interest This book will be of interest to in the history of science and continental anyone who wants to understand the philosophy. He is the author of the well-received book, The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe's contribution and wider implications Also by Henri Bortoft: of modern European thought in the Way of Science (Floris Books, 1996, 2005). world today. 978-086315-238-2 paperback | £20.00 234 x 156 mm | b/w illustrations | 208 pp | 978-086315-927-5
    [Show full text]
  • A Window on Nature Stirring the Biodynamic Preparations Jimmy
    Journal of the Biodynamic agricultural association n ISSUE NO: 112 n WINTER 2010 n ISSN NO: 1472-4634 n £4.50 harnessing the energy of the soil chromas - a window on nature stirring the Biodynamic preparations Jimmy anderson - in conversation the Biodynamic seed development project STAR & FURROW agricultural The Association is working to develop a sus- Journal of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association association (BDAA) tainable on-farm plant breeding programme, Published twice yearly increase the availability of high quality seed Issue Number 112 - Winter 2010 The Association exists in order to sup- varieties suited to organic growing condi- ISSN 1472-4634 port, promote and develop the biodynamic tions and encourage the establishment of approach to farming, gardening and forestry. a cooperative network of biodynamic seed This unique form of organic growing seeks producers. The breeding and development of STAR & FURROW is the membership magazine to improve the nutritional value of food and appropriate site adapted varieties is of vital of The Biodynamic Agricultural Association the sustainability of land by nurturing the vi- interest to biodynamic farmers and offers (BDAA). It is issued free to members. tality of the soil through the practical applica- the only long term alternative to biotech- Non members can also purchase Star and tion of a holistic and spiritual understanding nology. It also requires an ongoing research Furrow. For two copies per annum the rates are: of nature and the human being. Put simply, commitment that is entirely dependent on UK £11.00 including postage our aim is greater vitality for people and gifts and donations.
    [Show full text]
  • Organic Revolutionary a Memoir of the Movement for Real Food, Planetary Healing, and Human Liberation
    Organic Revolutionary a memoir of the Movement for Real Food, planetary healING, and human liberation GRACE GERSHUNY 12 Organic Revolutionary markets in 1994, when USDA began to track them, to 8,268 in 2014. There is even a weekly farmers market held in the USDA parking lot in Washington, DC.2 The Roots of the True Organic Vision To see how this vision grew into the modern organic movement it may be helpful to review American and European history with this topic in mind. While I read many of the ‘classics’ of organic thought during my early years in Vermont, I didn’t fit the pieces together until my involve- ment deepened and I began teaching about the subject. The excursion that follows offers my own interpretation and selection of events and actors that has helped me to place my own experience in its historical context. Many people assume that the organic movement had its start with Rachel Carson and the environmental movement of the sixties that inspired farmers to “just say no” to pesticides. The activist uprisings of the 1960s certainly gave rise to the modern organic movement, but the birth of what became known as organic farming really occurred in response to the first widespread use of synthetic fertilizers in the early part of the 20th century. Most of the foundational organic innovators came from Europe, where concerns about the effects of using synthesized chemicals to fertilize crops sprouted a short time after they started being promoted. Around the end of World War I the munitions manufacturers found themselves with large stockpiles of explosives on hand.
    [Show full text]
  • Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, Architects of Anthroposophy
    Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, Architects of Anthroposophy Dr John Paull [email protected] A century ago, on the 23rd of May 1912, the winning design of Canberra was announced. Soon after, two talented Chicago architects set sail for Australia. Their plan for Australia’s national capital, already named Canberra but at the time merely an empty paddock, had won first prize in an international competition which attracted 137 entries. The winning prize money for the design was a modest £1750 (McGregor, 2009). Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) and Marion Mahony (1871-1961) were married in the year preceding the win. Marion had nagged Walter to enter the competition, “What’s the use of thinking about a thing like this for ten years if when the time comes you don’t get it done in time!” She pointed out the practicalities: “Perhaps you can design a city in two days but the drawings take time and that falls on me” (Griffin, 1949, volume IV p.294). After the win was announced, Walter declared: “I have planned it not in a way that I expected any government in the world would accept. I have planned an ideal city - a city that meets my ideal of a city of the future” (New York Times, 1912). Marion chronicled events of their life together in a typewritten four- volume memoir of over 1600 pages (Griffin, 1949). Her memoir documents their life together and liberally reproduces personal correspondence between them and their associates. Her unpublished manuscript reveals the intensity with which she and Walter embraced the thoughts of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and anthroposophy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pioneers of Biodynamics in USA: the Early Milestones of Organic Agriculture in the United States
    American Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development Vol. 6, No. 2, 2019, pp. 89-94 http://www.aiscience.org/journal/ajesd The Pioneers of Biodynamics in USA: The Early Milestones of Organic Agriculture in the United States John Paull * Environment, Resources & Sustainability, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia Abstract Biodynamics has played a key role in environmental and sustainable development. Rudolf Steiner founded the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in 1924. The task for the Experimental Circle was to test Steiner’s ‘hints’ for a new and sustainable agriculture, to find out what works, and to publish and tell the world. Ehrenfried published his book Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening in New York in 1938, fulfilling Steiner’s directive. In the interval, 1924-1938, 39 individual Americans joined the Experimental Circle . They were the pioneers of biodynamics and organics in USA, and finally their names and locations are revealed. Of the 39 members, three received copies of the Agriculture Course in both German and English, while other copies were shared (n=6). Of the 35 Agriculture Courses supplied to American Experimental Circle Members, over half were numbered copies of the German edition (n=20), and the rest were the English edition (n=15). A majority of members were women (n=20), along with men (n=17), and undetermined (n=2). Members were from 11 states: New York (n=18), New Jersey (n=5), Ohio (n=4), Hawaii (n=3), Connecticut (n=2), Missouri (n=2), California (n=1), Florida (n=1), Maine (n=1), Maryland (n=1), and Pennsylvania (n=1).
    [Show full text]
  • The Corona Show James Corbett's Wake-Up Call COVID-19 and The
    Volume 5/No. 9/10 May/June 2020 THE PRESENT AGE A monthly international magazine for the advancement of Spiritual Science The Corona Show James Corbett’s Wake-up Call COVID-19 and the Cosmos Thinking: Its Freedom or Prohibition? The Incarnation of Ahriman (part two) Corona: Connecting the Dots Vaccines: C.A.Fitts and J.Rappoport CHF 22 / £ 15 / $ 22 / € 20 Symptomatic Essentials in politics, culture and economy Essentials in politics, culture / $ 22 € 20 Symptomatic CHF 22 / £ 15 World Dictatorship, Prophecies and the Jolt Contents towards the Spirit Beyond Surprise 3 No world dictator would have been able to achieve in a few weeks what the “virus”, Some Reflections on the Corona Crisis against which no remedy has allegedly yet been found, has been able to achieve T.H. Meyer in such a short time: school closures, the banning of public gatherings, theatre, concert and cinema performances, and visits to restaurants. Closed frontiers, closed A Letter to the Future 5 bars, and at the few open shops and pharmacies the notice that payment will only James Corbett be accepted with contactless cards. Economies shut down. No international de- Anti-Corona 2020 6 cision could have had so much psychological propaganda for the long-planned Martin Meyer Editorial global abolition of cash. This is a corona dictatorship still just short of forced vacci- - nation. Overnight everything else, such as climate change and 5G, has become an “…the diseases we suffer work unimportant secondary question. But there are also good things to report: NATO’s on earth are visitations from heaven” 8 gigantic NATO “Defender 2020” manoeuvres have been cancelled! COVID-19 and the Cosmos And sober explanations of the medical exaggerations have been provided by Terry Boardman Profs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Milestones of Organic Agriculture in the United States John Paull
    The Pioneers of Biodynamics in USA: The Early Milestones of Organic Agriculture in the United States John Paull To cite this version: John Paull. The Pioneers of Biodynamics in USA: The Early Milestones of Organic Agriculture in the United States. American Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, American Institute of Science, 2019, 6(2), pp.89 - 94. halshs-02183060 HAL Id: halshs-02183060 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02183060 Submitted on 15 Jul 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. American Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development Vol. 6, No. 2, 2019, pp. 89-94 http://www.aiscience.org/journal/ajesd The Pioneers of Biodynamics in USA: The Early Milestones of Organic Agriculture in the United States John Paull * Environment, Resources & Sustainability, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia Abstract Biodynamics has played a key role in environmental and sustainable development. Rudolf Steiner founded the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in 1924. The task for the Experimental Circle was to test Steiner’s ‘hints’ for a new and sustainable agriculture, to find out what works, and to publish and tell the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The Beginnings of Biodynamic Agriculture at Three- Fold Farm in Spring Valley, New York (And in the U.S.) by David Adams
    The Beginnings of Biodynamic Agriculture at Three- fold Farm in Spring Valley, New York (and in the U.S.) by David Adams With appreciation to Constance Ling for photographs irst, we have to set the stage for our story about Carnegie Hall studio of the St. Mark Group, the first Fthe beginnings of biodynamics at the Threefold anthroposophical study group in the U.S. (founded Farm in Spring Valley (Chestnut Ridge). In June in 1910). Unfortunately, a growing loss of hearing 1923 a 25-year-old American concert pianist in soon put an end to her short career as a concert New York City, Gladys Barnett (later Hahn), sold pianist. her grand piano in order to visit the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. While there, she saw a Journalist and early anthroposophist Ralph Courtney performance of eurythmy (a new art of movement also attended these meetings at Greene’s studio and there met Louise Bybee, another pianist associated with Greene. This studio was very near to a third- floor apartment with various rooms at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 56th Street that was rented in 1922 by Ralph Courtney and Louise Bybee, and where Gladys had rented one of the rooms. Later in 1923 an additional street-level apartment down the street at 135 West 56th Street was leased and individual rooms rented out by these same three and also by Charlotte Parker and others. Ralph began reading aloud Steiner lectures there, and in November the Threefold Commonwealth Group was formed with seven initial members. After another move to 207 West 56th Street, they began a kind of private dinner First year of farming at Threefold Farm (Ralph Courtney and club, which soon grew to 25 members.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter from the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy, Speech and Music
    Newsletter from the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy, Speech and Music Michaelmas 2008 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Topical forum Meeting for Composers II at the Goetheanum (Dr Wolfram Graf) . 36 The situation of the Speech School at the Goetheanum . 3 The 2nd “Toward Genuine Tuning Conference” Thomas Parr – (Laura Langford Schnur) . 37 new manager of the Goetheanum Stage . 3 The integrative Orchestra (Danielle Volkart) . 38 Announcements / Events of the Section . 3 Concert Review (Ruth Dubach) . 38 Courage for the Soft Tone (Verena Zacher Züsli) . 39 Articles Obituaries The Eurythmical Gesture for “Reverence” (Beth Usher) . 5 “The most essential thing in eurythmical movement” Frank Michael Beyer (Michael Kurtz) . 40 Stimuli for fashioning rests, Part II Maria Jenny-Schuster (Daniel Marston) . 6 (Wilfried Hammacher, Ea Koster-Jenny) . 41 What does the Spirit of the Age demand of the arts today? (Werner Barfod) . 8 From spatial to time-orientated movement (Ursula Zimmermann) . 10 Announcements Speech (Hans-Jürgen Gorenflo) . 13 Classical and Romantic Musical Styles – Eurythmy . 44 (Julian Clarke) . 20 – Speech . 48 The Importance of Puppetry in Therapy for Children – Music . 49 with Special Disturbances (Gabriele Pohl) . 23 – Puppetry . 50 Reports Publication Toward a new eurythmy training Werner Barfod – Planetengebärden und (David-Michael and Glenda Monasch) . 26 Menschenwesen Reports on the World Eurythmy-Therapy Conference [Planetary gestures and the human being] . 51 (Heike Houben, Erika Leiste) . 28 Eurythmy Training in Spain (Elisa Betancor) . 28 Fostering Speech Development through Elementary Eurythmy in the Kindergarten? (Sabine Deimann) . 28 Miscellaneous Passing on the Sceptre (Svlvia Bardt) . 30 Two reports on the Light Eurythmy Seminar, Discussion with Maria Jenny on questions concerning Chestnut Ridge, New York, May 8—10, 2008 the work with Rudolf Steiner in music eurythmy (Maria Ver Eecke, Elizabeth Linda (Stefan Hasler, Päivi Lappalainen, Gardner Lombardi) .
    [Show full text]
  • The Biodynamic Preparations in Context: Individual Approaches to Preparation Work - Case Studies of Worldwide Practice
    The biodynamic preparations in context: Individual approaches to preparation work - Case studies of worldwide practice - Dr. Ambra Sedlmayr, Anke van Leewen, Johanna Schönfelder, Dr. Maja Kolar, Dr. Reto Ingold, Ueli Hurter Research Team: Dr. Ambra Sedlmayr, Anke van Leewen, Johanna Schönfelder, Dr. Maja Kolar Consultant: Dr. Reto Ingold Project leader: Ueli Hurter Peer-review: Dr. Petra Derkzen Translations and proofreading: Bernard Jarman Published in August 2016. Sponsored by: Free donations to the Section for Agriculture Stiftung Software AG Verein zur Förderung Anthroposophischer Institutionen Demeter International e.V. CULTURA GmbH Private individuals Sektion für Landwirtschaft am Goetheanum Hügelweg 59 CH-4143 Dornach Tel: +41 (0)61 706 4211 Fax: +41 (0)61 706 4215 www.sektion-landwirtschaft.org II Dedicated to Devon Strong, preparation maker from California, who took part in the present study and who crossed the threshold in November 2015. III Acknowledgments We would like to offer our warm and heartfelt thanks to all the preparation makers, their groups and the families who have received the researchers and shared their knowledge and experiences of the biodynamic preparations with them and the readers of this publication. Thanks too to the many individuals in the various biodynamic associations who have provided contacts and support for various aspects of this research. This research has been closely supported and overseen by the IBDC (International Biodynamic Council) in its capacity as the steering committee. Benno Otter and Dr. Uli Johannes König have offered their time and participated in pilot case studies to develop a consistent research methodology. David Steiger, Simon Brinkrolf, Dr. Uli Johannes König, Beatrice Hurni and others have taken on tasks in various 'emergency' situations.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter from the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy, Speech and Music
    titel 08.09.2002 12:13 Uhr Seite 4 Newsletter from the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy, Speech and Music Easter 1999 1 EDITORIAL Dear Readers The 30th Newsletter appears at Easter 1999, for the first world-wide Section Conference for eurythmists, speech artists and musicians. There are many voices who have reacted favourably to the new form of the Newsletter, but there are naturally also some voices criti- cal of the new attempt. The Stage Forum is not quite running as we would wish, with many topical contributions and interviews which promote meetings and exchange. For this it needs the on-the-spot help–do you not wish to conduct an interview with someone responsible for a performance or a project? Some very significant and most varying contributions are included, which face contempo- rary problems in the different realms of our Section. The intention to collect several contributions for the 50th anniversary of Marie Steiner’s death, appraising the basis and achievements of Marie Steiner for the Section, was not seen as possible. This has been written about in all the journals, in articles in which Marie Steiner’s contribution in all realms was honoured. We would have been simply repeating. The book by Wilfred Hammacher, Marie Steiner–Lebenspuren einer Individualität (‘Marie Steiner–the life-path of an individuality’), presents a comprehensive picture of this remark- able personality who stood at Rudolf Steiner’s side. The Section Conference promises to bring to visibility much that lives unnoticed in the Section. The meeting of the arts, the common tasks and questions, the mutual support, can motivate us.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pioneers of Biodynamics in Great Britain: from Anthroposophic Farming to Organic Agriculture (1924-1940)
    Journal of Environment Protection and Sustainable Development Vol. 5, No. 4, 2019, pp. 138-145 http://www.aiscience.org/journal/jepsd ISSN: 2381-7739 (Print); ISSN: 2381-7747 (Online) The Pioneers of Biodynamics in Great Britain: From Anthroposophic Farming to Organic Agriculture (1924-1940) John Paull * Environment, Resources & Sustainability, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia Abstract Organic agriculture is the direct descendent of biodynamic agriculture; and biodynamic agriculture is the child of Dr Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course presented at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in 1924. Rudolf Steiner founded the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophic Farmers and Gardeners towards the end of that course. The task of the Experimental Circle was to test Steiner’s ‘hints’ for a new and sustainable agriculture, to find out what works, to publish the results, and to tell the world. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer published his book Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening in 1938, thereby fulfilling Steiner’s directive. Two years later, from Steiner’s characterisation of ‘the farm as an organism’, the British biodynamic farmer Lord Northbourne coined the term ‘organic farming’ and published his manifesto of organic agriculture, Look to the Land (1940). In the gestational period of biodynamics, 1924-1938, 43 individual Britons joined the Experimental Circle . Each received a copy of the Agriculture Course . Copies were numbered individually and inscribed with the name of the recipient. These 43 members were the pioneers of biodynamics and organics in Britain, and finally their names and locations are revealed. Of the 43 individuals, 11 received their Agricultural Course in German, 27 in English, and five received copies in both German and English; one couple shared a single copy.
    [Show full text]