The North Bandai Bamboo Reforestation Project has made significant strides in addressing the challenges of unsustainable farming practices through its regenerative farming initiative, a key pillar of its impact plan. Inefficient farming techniques, such as slash-and-burn and shifting agriculture, have long degraded the region's landscape, contributing to deforestation, diminishing yields, and threatening livelihoods. By introducing regenerative farming, the project is reversing these trends and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Regenerative farming is an approach that restores and enhances agricultural land that has been depleted. It focuses on soil health, water conservation, and nutrient improvements, enabling farmers to sustain productivity on the same land for generations. Practices like crop diversification, integrating cash crops, trees, and livestock, and eliminating the need for shifting agriculture have been at the heart of this part of the impact plan.
Since its launch in 2022, the project has worked closely with local communities to build knowledge and capacity for regenerative farming. So far, the project has achieved:
• Establishing a demonstration farm
A demo farm was developed to serve as a training hub where farmers could observe and learn regenerative practices firsthand.
• Training local leadership
Key community leaders were trained in the techniques and benefits of regenerative farming, creating local advocates who could guide and inspire others.
• Implementing pilot farms
In 2023, the first fully operational regenerative farm was established for a smallholder farmer. This pilot demonstrated the effectiveness of the techniques, yielding both environmental and economic benefits while improving nutrition.
Building on these successes, the project plans to support at least four additional smallholder farmers in developing regenerative farms in 2024. The overarching goal in the coming years is for 100% of farmers within the targeted communities to adopt sustainable regenerative agriculture practices.
This includes cultivating a wider variety of crops under permanent production and shifting from single-crop rotations to year-round production of seasonal crops that thrive in the region's favourable growing climate.
These efforts are expected to positively impact deforestation rates, reduce illegal farming activities, and significantly mitigate the occurrence of fires—a major contributor to land degradation in the area.
By addressing both ecological restoration and community nutrition, the regenerative farming initiative is promoting a more sustainable and resilient agricultural system in the North Bandai region, supporting long-term benefits for both the environment and local communities.