ACHMs Operation Hope programme received US$100 000 to further develop its work.
Through Operation Hope, ACHM and its U.S. sister organisation, the Savory Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have pioneered a successful approach to management that recognised that culture, land, livestock, and economy were indivisible.
Operation Hope demonstrated to Buckminster Fuller Institute judges that practicing holistic management and increasing rather than decreasing livestock numbers could restore degraded grasslands in Zimbabwe.
The approach contradicted accepted practice and theories of resting land from animal grazing. Instead, the approach re-established the symbiotic balance between plant growth, soil building, water retention, and the behavior of herding animals. In so doing, the programme helped reduce the risk of disaster for vulnerable Zimbabwean populations by strengthening food security, improving water supplies, and mitigating drought.
USAID/Zimbabwe Mission Director Karen Freeman congratulated ACHM and noted that sustainable methods of reversing desertification and combating climate change are USAID priorities, as is strong community involvement in development. Our partnership with ACHM and the Savory Institute combines the two and confirms the validity of a holistic approach. We are thrilled that the Buckminster Fuller Challenge exists to recognise and support such important initiatives.”
Post published in: News