Pierre Rabhi
A farmer in the1960s, Pierre Rabhi confronted very early on the problem of intensive agriculture and was appalled by the impacts of this practice on ecosystems. In the 1960s, he decided to develop, with his wife, an ecological agriculture experience in Ardèche (France). He promoted the principles of agro-ecology in France as well as in Africa. He is engaged in projects supporting the local environment, notably for the rehabilitation of African oases, since 1994, and leads "Oases in all places" movement. Today he directs the Earth and Humanism Association, which fights for the respect of the earth and solidarity. To share his experience, he has written several books including "Sahara aux Cévennes (The Sahara of the Cévennes)" or "la Reconquête du songe (Regaining the Dream)" (Albin Michel, 1995), "Parole de Terre (Talk About Earth)" (Albin Michel, Paris, 1996 - preface by Yehudi Menuhin) and "Graines de possibles : Regards croisés sur l'écologie (Seeds of Possibility: Differing Views on Ecology" co-authored by Nicolas Hulot and Weronika Zarachowicz (Livre de Poche, 2006).
Elizabeth Grossman is the author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and other books. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Salon, The Washington Post, The Nation, Mother...
Henry I. Miller, a physician and molecular biologist and a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, was the founding director of the Office of Biotechnology at the U.S. Food & and Drug...
André Bouny is the author of Agent Orange, Apocalypse Viêt Nam, which has just been published by Editions Demi-Lune (France).
World Health Organization (WHO) is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. Established on 7 April 1948 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the...
A farmer in the1960s, Pierre Rabhi confronted very early on the problem of intensive agriculture and was appalled by the impacts of this practice on ecosystems. In the 1960s, he decided to develop,...
The Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research Engineering (CEMAGREF) directs its research on improving knowledge and developing new techniques in water and territory management.
Ecologist, alter-globalization advocate, author of numerous chronicles for various French magazines (Politis, La Croix, Terre Sauvage, etc), Fabrice Nicolino is currently an editorial consultant for...
Carlos Amorin is a journalist from Brazil, he is a member of the Information and Solidarity Network with South America (ISNSA) The ISNSA does not legally exist, and is not an association, NGO or...
General Manager of UIPP (French Association of the Crop Protection Industry), Jean Charles Bocquet heads up the group essentially comprising transnational manufacturing pesticide producers (BASF,...
Pharmacy professor, Jean Marie Pelt is above all a botanist, ecologist and toxicologist. After a long series of assignments abroad, he now shoulders numerous responsibilities. He founded the European...
Points of view on ecology
12/09/2008 12:47 pm
Pierre RABHI (with Nicolas Hulot) participates in a debate hosted by Jean-Jacques Fresko, chief editor of Terre Sauvage (“Wild Earth’), at the Earth University – a Meeting organized by Nature et Découverte, in partnership with Les Echos magazine, in November 2005.
Jean-Jacques FRESKO
Pierre Rabhi, you yourself use the term “mankind out of the ground” Can you tell us about your experience?
Pierre RABHI
We need to understand that intensive farming, resorting to high quantities of pesticide, degrades the soils, pollutes the water, threatens domestic biodiversity, and the vital heritage of mankind which has grown over centuries. We are heading straight for times of food scarcity and famine.
Now it happens that third world populations have caught the train we are on. We were forced to catch up with a change for which nothing could prepare us. A large part of the world follows the production pattern of developed countries out of mimicry, without seeing the dangers. In reality, this model is absolutely not renewable. The depletion of oil resources actually leads us to think that we have reached the end of a logic.
Jean-Jacques FRESKO
The process you describe is nothing less than globalization.
Pierre RABHI
The question is to find out why duality has become a model of organization. In reality, antagonism leads to globalization. The education of our children is motivated by principles of competitiveness, and competition. We should not be surprised that this policy should result in the current situation.
I am often called a philosopher. But you must know that I came to ecology through farming.
I attempted to understand the profound mechanisms of the earth. I wished to return to the soil, live frugally and self-sufficiently. The administration of my estate in the Cevennes of Ardèche was prompted by principles. I have lived for 13 years without electricity, water, or modern techniques., Through this experiment I found out that man had created a radical break between activities that enable them to feed themselves and essential principles of nature.
Reading Silent spring, by Rachel Carson, a scientist who was requested by the American government to look into the effects of insecticides on the environment, triggered something in me. The study’s outcome is disastrous: The entire life chain appears degraded. I therefore decided to radically change my direction.
My project was more about life style than an economic project. The beauty of the place where I settled has been, as a matter of fact, crucial. In my view, ecology does not just concern the environmental conundrum, or that of the biosphere, but the cosmos as a whole. In reality, we “are” ecology. Indeed, the substances we release into the soil will end up sooner or later in our body, in our cells. What’s more, the world “humanity” refers to the words humus and humility.
Jean-Jacques FRESKO
Afterwards, you became the councilor to the President of Burkina Faso and, if I am correct, provided the evidence that organic farming could feed the world.
Pierre RABHI
Absolutely. The little plot of land that I cultivated in Ardèche widened my horizons and enabled me to connect with time and space all around the world. I then wondered whether my experiment was “transmissible”. I realized that the South had been trapped by modernity, that it was connected through chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Furthermore, the South is especially affected by ecological disasters, by the disappearance of animal and vegetal biodiversity, by desertification. Above everything else, man should eat his fill, and yet, too many human beings do not even obtain the vital minimum.
Having found that out, I wanted to train farmers from third world countries in agro ecology techniques, using my own practices and laboratory experiments in order to help them feed themselves and regenerate their environment. In 1981, I went to Burkina Faso upon the request of the government.
Jean-Jacques FRESKO
How many farmers have adopted this production pattern today?
Pierre RABHI
We started with 900 farmers. We built a laboratory on the premises; now 100,000 farmers use organic fertilization and, as such, are freed from the control of chemical industry and international organizations.
Signaler un abus
