Abstract
Knowledge of and interest in organic farming have grown in recent years. Although the health and environmental benefits outweigh increased production that might occur with conventional farming, use of synthetic chemicals remains the most widely used method. A number of barriers prevent farmers from full conversion to organic methods. To overcome these barriers, an intergenerational, community-based approach is needed to fully implement organic farming. Such an approach addresses the farmer’s full social ecology (i.e., farmer, community, children, trainers and monitors, greater society). Key to success is understanding and holding in reverence the knowledge of indigenous community members who can teach about the old, traditional ways and combine these with new knowledge. By working together in unity, the ecology can support farmers to be a part of the world’s solution to advancing food security.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Isaac Owu and the Okurase Organic Farmer’s Association in Ghana for being our teachers. We thank Project OKURASE, Ghana, and the Center for Global Health at the Medical University of South Carolina for supporting their work. We thank the children in our lives that keep us moving forward to do our best to make a better world for them: Nana Akosua, Ozni, Nhyira, Nana Gyabea (Rosa), Joseph, Lilly, MacKenzie, Sophia, and the many others who come into our lives and that we consider to be our children, our future.
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Swenson, C.C., Yeboah, S.N., Mason, S., Akonde, M., Ramirez, L., Ketron, C. (2022). An Intergenerational Community-Based Approach to Safe Farming and Environmental Health. In: Naeem, M., Bremont, J.F.J., Ansari, A.A., Gill, S.S. (eds) Agrochemicals in Soil and Environment. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9310-6_5
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