Voices from the Field: New Agriculture New Generation
The Challenge
Food insecurity is one of today’s top global challenges, with over 770 million people suffering from some form of malnutrition around the world. In Greece, increasing sustainable food production has become a necessity to address widespread food insecurity, especially at a time when climate change is aggressively altering the agricultural landscape. Navigating change across the agrifood sector requires new techniques and a more specialized and highly trained workforce. However, 94% of Greek farmers have only practical experience, without any of the specialized training needed to unlock more sustainable food production across the country.
The Approach
New Agriculture New Generation is piloting an agricultural training program in Greece, Social Farming 360o. In collaboration with local NGOs and civil society partners, the program works to provide technicians and agriculture specialists training and consulting services to develop sustainable and productive cultivation techniques, improving their farming outputs and advancing their overall financial health. The program also offers training and practical farming experience in Greek correctional facilities to help prepare incarcerated individuals to re-enter the workforce in agricultural careers. Through cultivating the surrounding fields, program participants help increase food production and availability in both the correctional facilities and the surrounding communities.
Over the course of this two-year program, Social Farming 360o will offer training and consultation to an estimated 900 program participants. Two training modules have already been completed, one focused on the basics of agriculture and another on cultivation techniques for olive trees and olive oil production. Other sessions will focus on developing packaged food products with high nutritional value and other sustainable food products. Moreover, each participating correctional facility will be connected to five charity organizations in their region so that once their own needs are met, surplus food products can be redistributed to members of the local community. The estimated result is over 6,000 individuals served with donated raw materials and food products across local communities in Greece.
The program also includes professional development workshops for participants. Upon completing the program, participants should be well positioned with a more specialized skillset to advance their careers or re-enter the agrifood sector workforce and to proactively adopt sustainable practices in their farming and cultivation practices.
"Food security is a top global priority concern, which is prioritized in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Providing safe, healthy and sufficient food for everyone is crucial to helping families and communities thrive. We are thrilled that New Agriculture New Generation was one of the recipients of the Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge with their groundbreaking program Social Farming 360o. It is perfectly aligned with the Citi Foundation’s bold initiative to enhance food security and boost the financial health of low-income families and communities worldwide.”
"With confidence in the value of the Social Farming 360o program, I express my support for this initiative. The program represents a valuable opportunity for the reintegration of vulnerable groups into our society and the creation of a more sustainable and inclusive social environment. Through our participation and support for this program, we aim for a development that focuses on the individual and their place in our society. I congratulate the New Agriculture New Generation organization and the Citi Foundation for their initiative, and I am confident that this collaboration will have positive results on multiple levels."
"We are proud to have the opportunity to contribute to the transformation of agricultural activity in rural prisons and to actively support both the reintegration of incarcerated individuals and food security in correctional facilities and the communities in which they are located. The trust of the Citi Foundation honors us and motivates us even more to work, together with the General Secretariat for Anti-Crime Policy, towards sustainable food production, especially at a time when the climate crisis significantly affects agricultural productivity. Our collaboration with ActionAid Hellas and Freedom Gate will play a pivotal role in fulfilling the priorities of the program.”
New Agriculture New Generation is a Citi Foundation 2023 Global Innovation Challenge recipient. Learn more about the Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge model here.