​

​The project is co funded by the Erasmus+ programme.

One of the primary goals for Crops For the Future Research Centre[i] (CFFRC) is to secure a greater role for underutilised crops in global agriculture, especially in developing regions of the world. CFFRC's function includes global campaigning as well as the collection and distribution of information on underutilised crops for food and non-food applications. The organisation has developed an online tool called CropBASE, a data-to-decision solution that focuses on agricultural diversification. This is free for farmers, researchers and everyone with an interest in sustainable agriculture.
The changing political scene in Malaysia over the last few years has caused instability in the organisation’s work. Established in 2014, CFFRC closed its doors in May 2020 after the Government of Malaysia’s agreed-upon period of funding support came to an end. The closure has resulted in the move of CFFRC to the UK, now known as CFFUK where it continues to work for a worldwide varied supply of food sources to benefit both people and the planet.

Biodiversity incorporated in agriculture
At Surefoot we have talked with PhD student Gomathy Sethuraman at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. The online conversation is one of a series where we speak with people from organisations around the world, to get first-hand insight into climate change and environmentally friendly actions.
Gomathy Sethuraman has worked for about 15 years in various laboratory settings and joined the Research Division at CFFRC in 2015 as the Technical Support Manager. Her main tasks were to provide technical support in equipment setup and usage, sample analysis and data collection, including report writing related to crop studies & nutrition profiling. “Despite there being approximately 30,000 known plant species documented for human use, less than 20 species provide the world’s food and only four major crops namely wheat, corn, rice and soybean account for the majority of the world’s food production. There are at least 7000 plant species identified as food sources that remain underutilised or lesser-known; these crops are very rich in vitamins and nutrients. Whilst bringing new flavours to the meals, they also have the potential to improve both food and nutrition security. As knowledge is scarce on these underutilised crops it presents a challenge to incorporate these lesser-known crops into the agriculture sector,” says Gomathy.
Together with colleagues she has published a few papers on some of these underutilised crops found in Malaysia. One such crop is sacha inchi[ii] which is native to the Amazon rainforest but can now be found in other parts of the world including Malaysia. Its high levels of fatty acids (Omega 3, 6 and 9) and easily digestible protein are not common in other vegetable oil. The team is pleased to find out that there are farmers around Malaysia who have started working on this crop. Hopefully, this will lead to further collating of information and dissemination to a wider audience with the hope that more farmers will explore the underutilised crop that has valuable traits not only to improve diversity in agriculture but also to mitigate climate change and reduce the use of pesticide and fertiliser that contributes to the carbon footprint of agriculture. 
 
Positive effects of more local food
“The Malaysian government’s goal of being carbon neutral in 2050, I believe is a difficult target to achieve as a large portion of the country’s food is being imported from all over the world despite it being an agricultural country. More varied and locally produced food would help to decrease carbon emissions and the negative climate effect,” says Gomathy and she elaborates on climate change in Malaysia. Monsoon is a typical recurring annual event, but now it causes more flooding than usual. Water levels can at times reach the heights of house roofs. Likewise, extreme heat is a more frequent phenomenon. The average temperature rise of  1 - 2°C doesn’t seem much on the skin of our body, but plants experience it differently. The flowering of some plants is affected by the temperature change, which directly affects the yield production. With a number of changes of government in Malaysia over the past several years, Gomathy calls out for stability for the support of environmentally friendly initiatives which aim to ease the impacts of climate change, regardless of changes in the political agenda.
 
Creating value out of challenges
One positive ‘side-effect’ of moving Crops For the Future to the UK, is that now the organisation has established new partnerships with other countries and has gained international recognition. Gomathy underlines the persistent effort of the CEO at Crops For the Future, Sayed Nader Azam-Ali. His book, ‘The Ninth Revolution, Transforming Food Systems For Good’ was released earlier this year, and the organisation continues to promote the Global Action Plan for Agricultural Diversification (GAPAD) through its participation in the AIRCA consortium and work with a range of partners. CFFUK is also looking into expanding its approach globally and currently working towards establishing in South Africa with hosting by the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg and a preliminary exploration underway in Australia with the goal to create regional centres with complementary expertise that can contribute to a variety of food system research projects throughout the world.
On the question of how to support underutilised crop production, Gomathy points out knowledge sharing as an important initiative. Knowledge is an important tool for any form of advancement, and it should start in the family. Some of these crops were grown by our ancestors and they are lost in the transition of time. Gomathy teaches her daughters of seven and twelve years old who take part in growing edible plants like long beans, tomatoes, okra and some leafy vegetables in their home in Selangor. She iterates, whenever we buy food, we ask questions like, “Where is this food produced, is it coming from a local farm or has it taken a flight to come to our shelves, has there been the use of pesticides, how much has it been processed, and what kind of packaging material is used? Could there be an option for locally fresh, less processed food, with a minimum wrapping be available as a substitute?”

When Gomathy  participated in Carbon Conversations conducted by Surefoot in 2009, she was surprised about the carbon footprint of food transported by plane, “It is not enough to go for vegetables and fruits, the footprint of transport is a significant factor to take into consideration when assessing the impact of our food. Educational programmes available to all would be a great help for people to find out how to choose climate-friendly food sources.” Gomathy also highlights that it does not help the situation by pointing fingers and judging people for their eating habits, especially those who consume meat or highly processed food products. Instead, we can inspire and share the knowledge towards a varied food option that is good for us and the planet since there are more than 7000 crops documented for food sources.
​By Gazelle Buchholtz

For more information:
[i] Gregory, P. J.; Mayes, S.; Hui, C. H.; Jahanshiri, E.; Julkifle, A.; Kuppusamy, G.; Kuan, H. W.; Lin, T. X.; Massawe, F.; Suhairi, T. A. S. T. M.; Azam-Ali, S. N. Crops For the Future (CFF): An Overview of Research Efforts in the Adoption of Underutilised Species. Planta 2019, 250 (3), 979–988. Overview of CFFRC, Malaysia

[ii] Sethuraman, G.; Nizar, N. M. M.; Muhamad, F. N.; Gregory, P. J.; Jahanshiri, E.; Azam-Ali, S. Nutrition Composition of Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia Volubikis L.). International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) 2020, 7 (9), 271–277.

Join us to experience and learn how to use a selection of Resilience of Place tools the 22nd and 29th of November.

The workshops are part of our series of Erasmus+ funded resilience workshops, following on from our 'Creativity Builds Resilience' workshops where one participant told us:
"The workshop was very helpful and inspiring. I've never experienced an online workshop in this moving way before. Connecting and exchanging with others in the breakout rooms and getting to apply the techniques together and to try them out instantly was very rewarding."

In the two connected workshops, participants will learn about resilience tools for communities:
- Landscape reading
- Restoration
- Transformation
- Conservation & visualisation
- Fairytales
We promise fun and relaxing sessions to support resilience for you and your community.

You can sign up for these free sessions here. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone who may be interested and let us know if this is something we can run for a group or organisation.​

From engaging people in nature conservation and creating crafts from plastic waste to inviting visitors to take part in the daily lives of private homes, Eco Hub Africa in Western Uganda strives to empower people and places. With increasing flooding impacting daily life and health of humans and nature, local understanding and knowledge sharing on a global scale are required to create a sustainable life.

Ripple effects of climate change
At Surefoot we talk with people from organisations around the world, to get firsthand insight into climate change and environmentally friendly actions. An online conversation with Goodman Bwambale and William Bwambale, who are Environmental Management leaders at the organisation Eco Hub Africa in Kasese, Western Uganda, illustrates the ripple effects of climate change.
The Kasese district is surrounded by several national parks, among these are Rwenzori Mountains National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. The snowcapped Rwenzori mountains, known as mountains of the moon, includes the Margherita Peak which with more than 5100 meter is the highest summit of the Ruwenzori Range in East Africa.
Environmental impacts in Kasese carve deep traces in both natural and residential areas. Citizens, residences, hospital and national parks are affected by increased flooding. The river Nyamwamba in the Kilembe subcounty Kasese district floods every year, but the amount of water is increasing, and flooding is now happening outside the typical season. In 2016 there were 25,445 people effected by flooding, in 2020 the number was 120,000 people.[i]  The Kilembe Mines hospital, which since 1951 has been a ‘health sanctuary’ for most communities in western Uganda, was destroyed by flooding in May 2020. It’s still not recovered from the effects of the catastrophe.
The same day of our conversation, William followed up by email to say that the river Nyamwamba had just burst its banks causing devastating flood in the lowland of Kilembe Valley and parts of Kasese municipality. The Rwenzori mountains is a catchment area of major rivers as Nyamwamba, Mubuku, Lhubiriha and Thako. These rivers have been flooding since 2013 causing loss of life, loss of property and displacement of people in the Kasese district and impacts on the natural environment and ecosystem.
“When flooding causes the riverbanks to burst, waste is being transported from the residential areas in the valley into natural habitats, where for example toxic substances pollute Lake George and Lake Edward in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. This includes killing the fish,” Goodman explains.

Nurturing the sprouts
Goodman points out that whereas burning fossil fuel is the primary source of carbon emissions many places on the earth, a great part of the emissions in Africa is caused due to households’ dependency on woodburning as an energy source. Another environmental problem is plastic waste which is to be found everywhere.
The core work of the Eco Hub Africa is activities providing skills to especially children and to mothers with no formal education. Nature conservation, creating crafts of plastic waste, and taking part in training for the tourism industry are central areas. William and Goodman, both with a background in the tourism industry, organise free hosting of travelers and volunteers to provide an opportunity to exchange experience with the local people in private homes.
At the Eco Hub Africa, birthdays are celebrated by inviting people to join tree planting and to make crafts of plastic waste. When working with children, Goodman and William witness the development of care and engagement in the natural world which nurtures the future conservationists. However, the persistent, ongoing engagement by many is a crucial factor when you try to make positive ripple effects with sustainable outcome.

The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland’s (ERCS) vision is of a Scotland where every person’s right to live in a healthy environment is fully realised. Individuals and communities can get support to use their rights to protect the environment, tackle climate change, improve local biodiversity and make greenspaces healthier and wilder. The aim is to provide help to challenge environmental injustices and advance our human right to a healthy environment. Shivali Fifield, associate of The Surefoot Effect and Chief Officer for the ERCS, explains: “We offer free advice on environmental law, which includes law relating to land-use planning, climate change, pollution control, environmental health, conservation, and any other field, for example transport and energy, to the extent that it impacts on the natural environment in Scotland.” 

If you need advice, get in contact by the online form www.ercs.scot/get-advice. This could be on a specific issue, for example a worrying planning application or loss of greenspace in your neighbourhood, or a more general question such as your rights to environmental information. To find out more about ERCS’s work on policy and law reform, check out www.ercs.scot and @ERCScot on twitter. ​

The charity Climate Ed runs workshops with school children to further student engagement by building on the basic climate science message through role play, creative tasks, games and news features. In small groups, the children also have opportunities to express themselves with reflective writing.
Since Easter, Climate Ed volunteer Suzanne O’Donnell has been engaged in delivering five one-hour sessions to about 60 of Year 6 children at the Furzedown Primary School in Wandsworth, London. Suzanne, who is a former teacher and has a lot of energy for networking, enjoys being involved in the creative side of climate action together with the children. She’s convinced that the work will go towards raising a generation of carbon literate children, and through it they will support the foundations for a more sustainable future.
Ben Cuddon, founder of Climate Ed, a Carbon Conversations facilitator, and one of the directors of The Surefoot Effect, aims to teach children about climate change and empowers them to take action through the charity’s activities. To do so, Suzanne and other volunteers draw on their own background. For Suzanne it meant that she was able to use relevant examples of recent activism, for example student protest of fossil fuel companies funding at the Science Museum. It was also possible to include a slide showing an environmental art project attended by young children funded by their local council. She’s also keen to use her teaching skills to facilitate questions and let the children to voice concerns which they did with great enthusiasm.
To balance the science videos, the activities provided a way to make carbon counting fun by making up a catchy short rhyme or a comic sketch. Unsurprisingly this created quite a lot of laughter among the 9-10 year-olds. This added a playful aspect while focus was the major carbon reductions they and their families can achieve. Questionnaires and presentations pointed to carbon tracker apps for their families to carry the work into weekly accounting beyond the classroom and challenged them on how much emissions participants are able to save.
Suzanne thinks the students after the workshop have a good handle on the main causes and impacts. They are aware that flying or owning an SUV both being carbon intensive is a problematic issue; furthermore, some of the kids saw a conflict that those activities are presented as aspirational. However, they are aware that choices are available and can be made about the future that tackle the travel problem. They also pointed out benefits of vegan diets to their friends and parents and making reductions there too. 
Suzanne taught art and design at secondary level some years ago. Working at primary level is a huge difference she says, because this age group wants to know what’s happening in the world, what's changing and why. It was a great reward for her to get back to her local community. Even with Covid restrictions they’ve proved this approach to be successful from a clarification and practical action point of view.
So far Climate Ed has run their programme in schools around south London, with bookings for the coming academic year there’s a huge desire to spread awareness among the school community and build relations with other groups.
If you would like to set up Climate Ed affiliate groups in the UK or in other countries the charity would love to hear from you. Feel free to get in touch via [email protected]

A few updates on the three Erasmus+ projects. 

Breakthrough for Resilience
The project Breakthrough for Resilience has passed its half-way milestone recently. Partners have collected resilience tools in three aspects: people, places and communities, held a pilot workshop in November 2020, and the Society of Social Psychiatry and Mental Health based in Greece has run three further pilot workshops. Our partners will deliver 3 workshops during 2021, each dedicated to one of the three main aspects of the project. Please join us for our Creativity Builds Resilience workshop in June.

Sustainability, Heritage, Health
In the project Sustainability, Heritage, Health we have together with partners from Greece, Spain and Lithuania started planning the first routes which will explore heritage in the four participating countries and make connections to environmental issues. On one of the routes, in Athens, you can stroll along marble streets that are thousands of years old to learn about Poseidon, god of the seas, and the current state of the world’s oceans, pollution, how millions of people depend on the oceans for livelihoods, and the ways we have to protect them. On one of the routes in Scotland, you can learn about the visionary thinkers and how the country has become a leader in the transition to a more sustainable future.

​Once Upon Your Time
In the project Once Upon Your Time for schools, we and partners in Iceland, Spain and Slovenia are researching storytelling methodologies. The goal is to adapt these methodologies and work with children aged 11-16 in schools in the four participating countries.
More info to follow as the projects progress. ​

By Euri Bartlome Vidal, Associate at The Surefoot Effect
​As a host of the COP26 and a leading nation in the transition to a low carbon society and a net zero nation by 2045, the Scottish government asks the following questions:

• What are the opportunities for green investment in Scotland?
• How does Scotland propose to strengthen its green economy and the energy sector?
• How does the country plan to achieve net carbon zero and what exemplar projects are already underway?
• What role does the private sector have to play in achieving that goal and what support is available?

This is tougher than a net-zero carbon target, which commits only to balancing carbon dioxide emissions (for example, by purchasing carbon credits by funding things such as reforestation in third-party countries such as developing nations in Africa or Asia, which do not require carbon reductions at home). The Scottish Government will also respond to the global climate emergency by adopting an ambitious new target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 – the toughest statutory target of any country in the world for this date going above and beyond what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said is required worldwide to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Scotland has already almost halved emissions since 1990, and according to the Scottish government, “The second half of Scotland’s journey to net-zero emissions will, undoubtedly, require different, and in many cases much more difficult.”
To make recommendations to Ministers on how Scotland’s net-zero transition should be achieved, a Citizens’ Assembly on climate change was convened. Grounded in Scotland's Climate Change Act (2019), Scotland's Climate Assembly brought over 100 people together from all walks of life to learn about, deliberate and make recommendations to answer: "How should Scotland change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way?"
Each Assembly member identified the top 10 statements which were most important to them. These were consolidated and ordered based on the statements which were prioritised most by members. The two most important recommendations regarding fairness to tackle the climate emergency, prioritised by over 70% of Assembly members were:
1) Take into account the needs of different communities across Scotland, recognising that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
2) Target the highest emitters so that organisations and individuals with the highest carbon footprint have to make the biggest changes.
You can access the full document here: www.climateassembly.scot/interim-report