We Feed the World explored the extraordinary stories of 50 small-holder farming and fishing communities around the world thanks to a collaboration with 47 world-class photographers including Rankin, Graciela Iturbide and Martin Parr.
With the evolution of this campaign – We Feed The UK – launching in 2024, we wanted to honour farmers globally by revisiting some of the communities we first met in 2018, to find out what’s changed…
COLOMBIA
The Vargas Fandino Family
The indigenous tuber, arracacha, resembles a large, unruly parsnip. The Vargas Fandino Family have led a root veg resurgence in the Colombian Andes. Local people even voted to ban gold mining in favour of farming that nurtures, rather than extracts from, the earth. Their strength set a global precedent for the right to resist mining.
INDIA
Dr Debal Deb
Farmer, scientist and seed saver Dr Debal Deb is determined to protect India’s genetic wealth against corporate interests. He safeguards 1442 varieties of rice on his farm and seed bank, gathered from local growers and spread to thousands of farmers in the surrounding states. By preserving genetic diversity of rice varieties that have evolved to thrive in local marginal conditions, Debal is providing an alternative path to industrial agriculture, and the pernicious cycles of debt this can entail.
NICARAGUA
The Goddesses
The chance meeting of Reyna Merlo and Isabel Zamora at a women’s gathering in Nicaragua, twenty years ago, led to a brave decision: to create an organic coffee growing cooperative called La Fundación Entre Mujeres. Also known as The Goddesses.
ENGLAND
Tolhurst Organic
Since we last met with Iain and Tamara Tolhurst, exciting things have sprouted… The Hardwick Estate, where Tolhurst Organic is based, will soon become the first community owned estate in England.
SPAIN
Alonso Navarro
Alonso Navarro is president of the Andalusian Seed Network in Málaga. Coming from a family of farmers and witnessing agriculture change since his youth, he has striven to create alternatives practices that preserve seed diversity. Through trial and error, they have recuperated fifty traditional Andalusian cereal and field legume varieties that can tolerate the extreme drought conditions.
SCOTLAND
The Macpherson and Macdonald Crofting Families
These crofters have been growing their native Bere Barley landrace on the Isles of Uist for generations. Grown in Scotland for at least a thousand years, Bere was the traditional source of malt for whiskey production – it is specially adapted to thrive in the cold and wet conditions. A recent revival not only offers great drinking, but also helps facilitate a circular economy; once the harvested barley has been threshed for the grains, the straw is returned to the crofters for animal feed.
ZIMBABWE
Shashe Community
Two decades ago, the landscape of Shashe looked very different. This 15,000 acres of land belonged to just three commercial ranchers who raised cattle for export. Today, it is home to nearly 400 families who farm a wide variety of grain, vegetables and livestock that feed their families in a climatic and politically unstable environment. This vibrant agricultural community is now remembering their ancestral rituals to deepen their connection to the land.