Social Innovations to Protect Soils and Empower People
Scaling sustainable land management practices through transdisciplinary research
This project has developed a range of social innovations that are critical to addressing some entrenched challenges that prevent smallholder farmers from investing in sustainable land management practices. These innovations address, among other systemic issues: insecure access to land for women and young people; informal, and unpredictable, land-leasing arrangements; limited farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer; and agricultural extension services that are not geared to the needs of poor and marginalized farmers.
Together with our partners in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Kenya, we facilitate participatory processes to develop practical solutions to these problems. We pay particular attention to those left out of mainstream planning processes with the aim of practical, context-specific solutions that are led by the most affected groups.
In western Kenya, working with the grassroots women’s organization, Shibuye Community Health Workers, we pioneered a process for establishing land lease guidelines, enabling women, and young people, to secure a livelihood from farming. In Burkina Faso, with Groupe de Recherche et d’Action sur le Foncier, we introduced a process of negotiated land rights transfer to improve women’s tenure situation within family farms. In northern Benin, TMG and our partners developed the community-led, 'Tem Sesiabun Gorado' model. The aim is to improve existing farmer-to-farmer extension strategies through a scalable model for catalyzing the diffusion of knowledge and practices on sustainable land management.





International Women's Day 2023

Social innovations to protect soils and empower people - new publications

First Governor’s Day with Farmers takes place in Kakamega County

Introducing: the Governor's Day with Farmers

To protect ecosystems, invest in women’s capacities!

Social innovations for healthy soils and human well-being

Policy Brief
Le modèle Tem Sesiabun Gorado
Une approche de mise à l‘échelle des innovations agricoles au Bénin
Written by Check Abdel Kader Baba, Larissa Stiem-Bhatia and Ismail M. Moumouni
Published on Oct 17, 2022

Policy Brief
The Tem Sesiabun Gorado (TSG) model
An innovate farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer approach
Written by Check Abdel Kader Baba, Larissa Stiem-Bhatia and Ismail M. Moumouni
Published on Oct 17, 2022

Info Brief
Transforming food systems from the bottom up
How locally developed social innovations can strengthen enabling environments for soil restoration
Written by Larissa Stiem-Bhatia, Jes Weigelt and Kader Baba
Published on Jul 13, 2022

Info Brief
Securing land access for smallholders
How a community-led process is strengthening leasing rights in western Kenya
Written by William Onura, Serah Kiragu-Wissler, Larissa Stiem-Bhatia, Washe Kazungu, Violet Shivutse and Doreen Magotsi
Published on Jul 13, 2022

Technical Guide
The Tem Sesiabun Gorado model - A farmer-led knowledge diffusion approach to promote sustainable agriculture in northern Benin
This guide is designed to facilitate understanding, and implementation of the Tem Sesiabun Gorado (TSG) model, a farmer-led knowledge diffusion approach.
Written by Check Abdel Kader Baba, Dr. Ismail Moumouni Moussa
Published on Oct 5, 2020

Technical Guide
Modèle Tem Sesiabun Gorado - Une approche de partage des connaissances sur les bonnes pratiques agricoles
Approche de gestion durable des terres
Written by Check Abdel Kader Baba, Dr. Ismail Moumouni Moussa
Published on Aug 17, 2020
First Governor's Day with Farmers - Kakamega County, Kenya
A novel approach aiming to bring farmers and agricultural policymakers closer together.
Tem Sesiabun Gorado - An innovative model for knowledge transfer
A novel farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer model
Tem Sesiabun Gorado - Un modèle innovateur de transfert de connaissances
Un nouveau modèle de transfert de connaissances entre agriculteur·rice·s
Transforming food systems from the bottom up: Social innovations for soil restoration
A conversation around land rights and agricultural transformation
No Sustainability Transition Without Securing Legitimate Land Rights - TMG @ COP 15
TMG and partners bring "Rights to Land" agenda to COP 15
- Programmes
- Outreach
- Organization
- Legal
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