Natural Agriculture Around the World

Brazil

• Project: Itachinga – The Itachinga Project includes a school program, which teaches students about Natural Agriculture, farming and the intersection between food, health and environment issues. Shumei formerly worked with the city of Itachinga to restore land along the riverbank by creating a Natural Agriculture community farm and reforestation project. The project was successfully completed.
• Practice: Itachinga – There is a farm with a Natural Agriculture orange and citrus orchard.
• Practice: Minas Gerais – There is a coffee plantation which is following the principles of Natural Agriculture. This is the first location producing Natural Agriculture coffee.
• Practice: Tomé-Açu – This is a forest farm in northern Brazil, which is following the principles of Natural Agriculture to grow pepper and cacao. Cacao is a major cash crop in Brazil and this is the first location producing Natural Agriculture cacao.

Canada

• Project: Pender Island, British Columbia – The Pender Island Project includes a Natural Agriculture demonstration farm and an educational program for visitors and local schools to learn about Natural Agriculture and the intersection between food, health and environment issues.
• Practice: Etzikom, Alberta – There is a commercial farm which grows emmer wheat, also known as faro, following the principles of Natural Agriculture. This ancestral wheat is more than 8,000 years old and it is being made into pasta and bread, which is sold internationally.

United States of America

• Project: Crestone, Colorado – The Crestone project includes a demonstration farm which grows more than 30 types of vegetables and a school program with a local charter school. There are three additional Natural Agriculture gardens, where community members are learning how to apply Natural Agriculture to their gardening practices and Shumei hosts educational workshops and programs for students of all ages (grades K through 12).
• Project: Hunter, New York – The farm is operated in partnership with the Catskill Mountain Foundation as a demonstration farm that integrates arts, education and sustainable living. The Catskill Mountain Foundation farm accepts WWOOF volunteers and individuals interested in learning about Natural Agriculture and provides hands on learning experiences growing a variety of vegetables.
• Practice: Redwood Valley, California – There is a vineyard, winery and vegetable farm where Natural Agriculture is practiced throughout the entire property. This vineyard is producing the first Natural Agriculture wine in California.
• Practice: Meridian, California – There is a large-scale organic rice farm which is dedicating a portion of the land to grow rice following the principles of Natural Agriculture.
• Practice: Gordonsville, Virginia – There is a private farm which is growing more than 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables following the principles of Natural Agriculture, which are sold at the local farmers market.
• Practice: Danforth, Illinois – There is a certified organic farm growing Natural Agriculture soybean. The farm dedicates 1900 acres of land to organic crops.

Australia

• Practice: Sydney– There is a farm outside of Sydney , which is growing macadamia nuts following the principles of Natural Agriculture.

Japan

• Project: Shigaraki No Sato – This is the official headquarters for Shumei Natural Agriculture, located in the Shiga Prefecture of Japan. Shigaraki No Sato is a model farm which balances traditional knowledge with modernity. The farm features two renovated traditional farm houses “Kominkas” and is surrounded by Natural Agriculture rice and vegetable fields. It serves as a training ground for new farmers and Shumei also offers educational tours for students, community members and guests of the Miho Museum.
• Practice: There are more than 1,500 farmers practicing Natural Agriculture throughout Japan.

Nepal

• Project: Khandbari – The Khandbari Project is located in north east Nepal where agriculture plays a major role. Students learn to grow and harvest crops and to prepare food produced through Natural Agriculture. This school project is also helping to educate the local community about sustainable agriculture.
• Practice: Khandbari – There are several local farmers in this community practicing Natural Agriculture, especially in the production of rice, one of their staple crops.

Philippines

• Project: Tanay – The Tanay Project includes a model farm in the Rizal Province, which offers educational programs for local community members to learn more about Natural Agriculture. They also sell their Natural Agriculture product at local farmers markets and to local restaurants.
• Project: Zambales Province – There are several schools in the region which have started Natural Agriculture school projects where students grow their own crops and learn more about farming.
• Practice: Zambales Province – There is a farming cooperative with approximately 100 farms which follow the principles of Natural Agriculture to grow rice and a variety of vegetables in the region. Many of them sell their Natural Agriculture produce at local markets.
• Project: Manila — There is a Montessori school in Temple Hill, Manila where students are learning the principles of Natural Agriculture through a lesson plan and are growing crops as part of a school-wide program.

Madagascar

• Project: The Madagascar Project includes Natural Agriculture farms and education projects in partnership with AGRINATURE Association in three districts. There are school programs where students are learning about Natural Agriculture as well as model farms where farmers are producing rice and other crops, including vanilla bean.
• Practice: There are many farmers throughout Madagascar who are following the principles of Natural Agriculture to grow a variety of crops as a result of their exposure to the Shumei/AGRINATURE projects. Many of them are selling their Natural Agriculture produce in local markets.

Tunisia

• Practice: Tunis – There is an orange farm that is following the principles of Natural Agriculture. This is the first Natural Agriculture orange grove in the country.
• Practice: Kairouan City – There is a family farm practicing Natural Agriculture to grow vegetables as well as almonds, dates and pomegranates without the use of any chemicals, fertilizers or pesticides.

Zambia

• Project: Southern Zambia – The Zambia Project is conducted in partnership between Shumei and the Natural Agriculture Development Program Zambia (NADPZ) in three rural districts – Mbabala, Pemba and Chikanta. The project includes model farms, educational programs and a variety of activities to empower rural women farmers in southern Zambia to reduce their reliance on agricultural inputs by practicing Natural Agriculture and reviving traditional farming methods.
• Practice: Southern Zambia -There are more than 6,000 farmers practicing Natural Agriculture as a result of the Zambia Project. Many of these farmers following the principles of Natural Agriculture, produce crops, which they sell for their livelihood.

Germany

• Project: Steinfurth – The Steinfurth project includes a Natural Agriculture model farm and a training program for new farmers from around the world. The demonstration farm grows a variety of vegetables and herbs for the community and local restaurants and was the first Natural Agriculture farm established in Europe. The Steinfurth farm has trained farmers from Africa interested in Natural Agriculture, including farmers from Tunisia, Zambia and Madagascar.

Italy

• Practice: Godiasco, Lombardy Region, Pravia Province – In 2008, Sacrafamilia Vineyard and Shumei formed a partnership to produce the first Natural Agriculture wine. Today the entire Sacrafamilia vineyard is cultivated following the principles of Natural Agriculture and they are producing three different wines.
• Practice: Mount Alvano, Tuscany – There is an olive farm where Natural Agriculture is practiced throughout the entire property. This is the first farm to produce Natural Agriculture olive oil in Mount Alvano, Tuscany, an area which is famous for its extra virgin olive oil. As a result more olive farms in the Mount Alvano region have begun to practice Natural Agriculture.
• Practice: Tuscany – There are several olive farms where Natural Agriculture is practiced to produce olive oil.
• Practice: Modena – There are several farms in this region where Natural Agriculture is practiced to produce balsamic vinegar. The farms in the Modena region are especially well-known for this product.

Turkey

• Practice: Istanbul – There is a community garden where Natural Agriculture is practiced to grow a variety of vegetables and crops, which is sold at the local market.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

• Project: Yatesbury – The Yatesbury Project includes a demonstration farm which grows more than 40 varieties of crops and provides training opportunities for new farmers to learn about Natural Agriculture. The farm is located one hour outside of London and offers regular farm tours to visitors. Its produce is sold at the local farmer’s market and to restaurants in the area.