Synecoculture (synecological farming) project
Par: Masatoshi Funabashi
Organization: Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
Location: Burkina Faso and Japan
27 June 2018
Summary: We constructed a novel method of market gardening: Synecoculture, based on the high-density mixed association of edible plants without the application of tillage, fertilizer, and chemicals. We introduced a high crop diversity (200 species, 700 varieties in 1000㎡) for year-round sustainable harvests. This was shown to strengthen food security, nutrition profile, soil quality, cost efficiency, climate adaptation and field biodiversity. In Japan, 2- to 4-fold productivity was attained compared to conventional method. In Burkina Faso, 40- to 150-fold productivity and 10-fold cost-effectiveness was realized in the arid tropic region. Linear extrapolation of the result shows a strategic propagation of synecoculture could lift the entire population of Burkina Faso above the poverty threshold, and substantial achievement of Aichi biodiversity targets.
To share the wealth of global knowledge on the aspects of Integrated Ocean Management (IOM) with the 22 countries of the Abidjan Convention’s region, the Mami Wata project takes advantage of existing IOM solutions that have been successfully implemented already. The Blue Solutions presented here are part of and featured on the Marine and Coastal Solutions Portal on the PANORAMA platform. These solutions are being contributed by a broad range of providers from across the planet.
