Art Farm Collective was founded in 2014 with the purpose of empowering children and young people through art and agriculture. Growing up in The Gambia, I witnessed how limited opportunities pushed many young people to risk “the back way” migration. This loss was not only of lives, but also of culture, fertile soils, and food systems. Art and agriculture became the twin pillars of my vision: art to inspire creativity and confidence, agriculture to restore ecosystems and provide healthy food. Over time, this seed grew into EarthFarm, a regenerative initiative that blends art, education, agriculture, food, nutrition, natural medicine, ecosystem repair, and cultural repair. Our team brings together diverse expertise: Pa Doullou Kandeh — Farming, Art, Founder & Vision Lead. Sainey Badgie — , Community Development. Field Operations & Local Coordination. Simon Brown — Landstory Project Support. Technical & Strategic Advisor. Dr Sireita Mullings — Academic Project Support, etc
Project story
I am so happy and grateful to be part of the regenerative practitioner series (TRRP 2025), which offered a new eye of potential and the capability to integrate these regenerative principles and insights into our projects. As a results, we have been able to regenerate our thinking and ourselves by consciously implementing and testing principals and different perspectives.
The project will be contextualized within my beautiful country THE GAMBIA a watershed farmland named after the river Gambia, and is about 1,120 km long, flowing from the Fouta Djallon highlands in Guinea through Senegal and The Gambia into the Atlantic Ocean. Of this, roughly 97 km inland from the coast is tidal and brackish, meaning the remaining ~1,020 km upstream is predominantly freshwater.
Freshwater Stretch: Beyond this zone, the river is ~1,020 km of freshwater, supporting agriculture, fishing, and ecosystems. Tributaries & Creeks (Bolongs): Includes Bintang Bolong, Sofianiama, and Sandougou, which feed freshwater into the main river
The River Gambia holds enormous potential for regenerative agriculture, especially along its freshwater stretches, where projects are already underway to restore degraded land, empower women farmers, and build climate-resilient food systems. Recent initiatives near Chamen Village and across the Central and Upper River Regions show how agroforestry, no-till farming, and water-smart practices can transform rural economies
Agriculture in The Gambia has historically revolved around groundnuts (peanuts), cashew, mangoes and cotton as the main cash crop since the 17th and 18th century colonial period. Rice remains the staple food Your Food is Your Medicine: The EarthFarm Initiative, seeks to support the diversification of crops and ground produce. Alongside these, some traditional herbal medicine information has continued to thrive. With markets like Brikama selling dozens of wild plant species used for healing and cultural practices e.g digestive skin and hair issues using neem, shea butter, aloe vera, moringa and castor oil. Tamarind, and baobab for an upset stomach; Lemon grass moringa, and local shrubs, for malaria and fevers. , General tonics are made using moringa leaves and seeds, which are widely promoted for nutrition and immunity.
Older generations hold most of this herbal ancestral intelligence (Ai) and knowledge, therefore there is a growing concern about loss of traditional knowledge unless youth are trained in the use, domestication and conservation of these important crops.
Regenerative Potential / new eye
"By nurturing children and young peoples through regenerative agriculture along the River Gambia, we grow not only food but futures—restoring ecosystems, strengthening communities, and empowering the next generation to thrive in harmony with nature."
Degenerative, The Government/ politicians
The River Gambia is facing serious environmental degeneration, mainly due to rising salinity, climate change, and human activities such as deforestation and agricultural expansion. These pressures threaten freshwater availability, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of communities as nesting wholes that depend on the river. The unaware use of synthetic fertilizers has been one of the hidden drivers of soil and river degradation in The Gambia. Politicians and development programs often introduced chemical inputs as a “modernization” strategy, but the long-term consequences are proving harmful to nature and the evolution of planet earth
Introducing GMO seeds into The Gambia’s farming systems poses major risks to regenerative agriculture: they reduce biodiversity, foster chemical dependency, and undermine traditional seed sovereignty. While GMO crops promise short-term yield gains, they conflict with the long-term soil health, ecological balance, and community empowerment that regenerative systems depend on. GMO seeds may look like a shortcut to higher yields, but they erode the very foundations of regenerative agriculture—soil health, biodiversity, and farmer independence. For The Gambia, protecting traditional seeds and promoting regenerative systems is the safer path to resilience.
The poor nutritional and feeding system as a whole, Synthetic foods and herbs harm both nature and humans by polluting ecosystems, eroding soil fertility, and contributing to chronic diseases. In The Gambia, protecting the River Gambia and promoting traditional herbal farming are essential steps toward regenerative health and agriculture.
That’s where EarthFarm’s philosophy shines. The slogan “YOUR FOOD IS YOUR MEDICINE” is more than just words; it’s a powerful counter to the synthetic, chemical-heavy systems that have harmed both people and the River Gambia. EarthFarm’s slogan “YOUR FOOD IS YOUR MEDICINE” is both a health message and an ecological mission. It reminds us that by growing food regeneratively, we heal ourselves and the land.
Every crop grown regeneratively carries nutrients that strengthen immunity, prevent disease, and restore vitality. Regenerative farming heals soils, rivers, and ecosystems, reversing the damage caused by synthetic fertilizers and GMO seeds. It reconnects Gambians to traditional herbal knowledge, where plants like moringa, neem, and baobab were always seen as both food and medicine.
The name emit itself!
EarthFarm is a regenerative initiative born from the Art Farm Collective, founded in 2014 (official registered 2018 and 2019) to uplift women/children through art and agriculture. We believe that food, culture, and ecology are inseparable — and that regeneration begins with relationships.
Our work blends art, education, agriculture, food, nutrition, natural medicine, ecosystem repair, and cultural repair, creating conditions for both people and the land to thrive.
Our Mission
EarthFarm exists to reconnect Gambian communities with the land and each other. We believe in the power of simple regenerative actions — planting trees, saving seeds, creating herbal gardens — that invest in the health of individuals, families, and ecosystems.
Our mission is to build a node of regeneration in Gunjur, a living classroom where children, women farmers, and neighbors learn together. By restoring soils, reviving herbal medicine, and protecting the River Gambia, we aim to prove that:
“Your food is your medicine.”
Background & Problem Statement
The Gambia faces interconnected challenges:
Youth migration (“the back way”) has led to loss of lives, culture, and community resilience.
Soil degradation and salinity intrusion threaten food security.
Synthetic inputs and GMO seeds erode seed sovereignty and damage ecosystems.
Loss of traditional herbal knowledge undermines health and cultural identity.
Communities in Gunjur and Berrending, especially women’s gardens, struggle to maintain fertility and livelihoods. Without regenerative alternatives, the cycle of ecological and social decline continues.
Solution
EarthFarm’s pilot project in Gunjur will demonstrate syntropic agroforestry and regenerative farming as solutions to soil degradation, food insecurity, and cultural loss.
Agroforestry & Tree Planting: 500 seedlings (moringa, mushrooms,stevia, native species) to restore soil and biodiversity.
Herbal Medicine Gardens: Moringa, soursop, aloa vera, tamarind — reconnecting food and medicine.
Water Security: Borehole, tanks and dripping pipe irrigational system, storage to sustain gardens year‑round.
Education & Workshops: Hands‑on training for women farmers, children, and schools.
Community Seed Bank: Protecting local varieties and ensuring seed sovereignty.
This is not about creating an island of abundance, but about acupuncture points in the earth — small but powerful interventions that ripple outward, regenerating ecosystems and relationships.
Opportunity
The Gunjur site is easily accessible, making it a hub for:
Community Education: Workshops, school gardens, and youth programs.
Women’s Empowerment: Strengthening women’s gardens and livelihoods.
Cultural Revival: Partnerships with traditional healers to preserve herbal knowledge.
Regional Replication: A model that can spread to Sukuta, Berrending, and beyond.
How We Regenerate
We engage in holistic approaches to regeneration, including:
Syntropic Agroforestry: Mimicking forest succession to restore soils.
Seed Sovereignty: Saving and sharing local varieties.
Herbal Medicine Integration: Healing gardens that connect food and health.
Community Commoning: Shared stewardship of land and resources.
Education Through Practice: Children and farmers learning by doing.
Budget & Goals
Minimum ($2,000): 2,662m sq. fencing, nursery setup, 200–300 seedlings, 2 workshops.
Maximum ($5,000): Borehole + tank, 500 seedlings, herbal medicine garden, 5 community work days.
Stretch Goals: School integration, community seed bank, regional regenerative network.
Tracking Impact
We will measure impact through:
Ecological Metrics: Trees planted, hectares restored, reduction in synthetic inputs.
Social Metrics: Number of women farmers and children engaged.
Health Metrics: Households benefiting from herbal medicine gardens.
Economic Metrics: Seed bank established, local produce reaching markets.
Qualitative data — stories of how families experience improved nutrition, cultural pride, and ecological resilience — will also be collected.
Our Team
Pa Doullou Kandeh — Farming, Art, Community Development (Founder & Vision Lead)
Sainey Badgie — Farming, Community Development (Field Operations)
Simon Brown — Landstory Project Support (Technical & Strategic Advisor)
Sireita Mullings — Academic Project Support, Youth Engagement
Traditional Healers & Women’s Gardens — Herbal medicine, cultural knowledge, local implementation
Together, we combine local wisdom, creative education, and regenerative practice to build a model that can be replicated across The Gambia.
Closing Statement
EarthFarm is more than a farm. It is a vision for regeneration — of soil, food, medicine, culture, and community. Starting in Gunjur, we are building a living classroom and demonstration site that proves regeneration begins with relationships.
"EarthFarm is not about creating an island of abundance. It is about acupuncture points in the earth — small but powerful interventions that restore ecological cycles, heal soils, reconnect communities, and remind us that your food is your medicine.
Project updates
Team
Your Food is Your Medicine: The EarthFarm Initiative
Art Farm Collective was founded in 2014 with the purpose of empowering children and young people through art and agriculture. Growing up in The Gambia, I witnessed how limited opportunities pushed many young people to risk “the back way” migration. This loss was not only of lives, but also of culture, fertile soils, and food systems. Art and agriculture became the twin pillars of my vision: art to inspire creativity and confidence, agriculture to restore ecosystems and provide healthy food. Over time, this seed grew into EarthFarm, a regenerative initiative that blends art, education, agriculture, food, nutrition, natural medicine, ecosystem repair, and cultural repair. Our team brings together diverse expertise: Pa Doullou Kandeh — Farming, Art, Founder & Vision Lead. Sainey Badgie — , Community Development. Field Operations & Local Coordination. Simon Brown — Landstory Project Support. Technical & Strategic Advisor. Dr Sireita Mullings — Academic Project Support, etc
Project story
I am so happy and grateful to be part of the regenerative practitioner series (TRRP 2025), which offered a new eye of potential and the capability to integrate these regenerative principles and insights into our projects. As a results, we have been able to regenerate our thinking and ourselves by consciously implementing and testing principals and different perspectives.
The project will be contextualized within my beautiful country THE GAMBIA a watershed farmland named after the river Gambia, and is about 1,120 km long, flowing from the Fouta Djallon highlands in Guinea through Senegal and The Gambia into the Atlantic Ocean. Of this, roughly 97 km inland from the coast is tidal and brackish, meaning the remaining ~1,020 km upstream is predominantly freshwater.
Freshwater Stretch: Beyond this zone, the river is ~1,020 km of freshwater, supporting agriculture, fishing, and ecosystems. Tributaries & Creeks (Bolongs): Includes Bintang Bolong, Sofianiama, and Sandougou, which feed freshwater into the main river
The River Gambia holds enormous potential for regenerative agriculture, especially along its freshwater stretches, where projects are already underway to restore degraded land, empower women farmers, and build climate-resilient food systems. Recent initiatives near Chamen Village and across the Central and Upper River Regions show how agroforestry, no-till farming, and water-smart practices can transform rural economies
Agriculture in The Gambia has historically revolved around groundnuts (peanuts), cashew, mangoes and cotton as the main cash crop since the 17th and 18th century colonial period. Rice remains the staple food Your Food is Your Medicine: The EarthFarm Initiative, seeks to support the diversification of crops and ground produce. Alongside these, some traditional herbal medicine information has continued to thrive. With markets like Brikama selling dozens of wild plant species used for healing and cultural practices e.g digestive skin and hair issues using neem, shea butter, aloe vera, moringa and castor oil. Tamarind, and baobab for an upset stomach; Lemon grass moringa, and local shrubs, for malaria and fevers. , General tonics are made using moringa leaves and seeds, which are widely promoted for nutrition and immunity.
Older generations hold most of this herbal ancestral intelligence (Ai) and knowledge, therefore there is a growing concern about loss of traditional knowledge unless youth are trained in the use, domestication and conservation of these important crops.
Regenerative Potential / new eye
"By nurturing children and young peoples through regenerative agriculture along the River Gambia, we grow not only food but futures—restoring ecosystems, strengthening communities, and empowering the next generation to thrive in harmony with nature."
Degenerative, The Government/ politicians
The River Gambia is facing serious environmental degeneration, mainly due to rising salinity, climate change, and human activities such as deforestation and agricultural expansion. These pressures threaten freshwater availability, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of communities as nesting wholes that depend on the river. The unaware use of synthetic fertilizers has been one of the hidden drivers of soil and river degradation in The Gambia. Politicians and development programs often introduced chemical inputs as a “modernization” strategy, but the long-term consequences are proving harmful to nature and the evolution of planet earth
Introducing GMO seeds into The Gambia’s farming systems poses major risks to regenerative agriculture: they reduce biodiversity, foster chemical dependency, and undermine traditional seed sovereignty. While GMO crops promise short-term yield gains, they conflict with the long-term soil health, ecological balance, and community empowerment that regenerative systems depend on. GMO seeds may look like a shortcut to higher yields, but they erode the very foundations of regenerative agriculture—soil health, biodiversity, and farmer independence. For The Gambia, protecting traditional seeds and promoting regenerative systems is the safer path to resilience.
The poor nutritional and feeding system as a whole, Synthetic foods and herbs harm both nature and humans by polluting ecosystems, eroding soil fertility, and contributing to chronic diseases. In The Gambia, protecting the River Gambia and promoting traditional herbal farming are essential steps toward regenerative health and agriculture.
That’s where EarthFarm’s philosophy shines. The slogan “YOUR FOOD IS YOUR MEDICINE” is more than just words; it’s a powerful counter to the synthetic, chemical-heavy systems that have harmed both people and the River Gambia. EarthFarm’s slogan “YOUR FOOD IS YOUR MEDICINE” is both a health message and an ecological mission. It reminds us that by growing food regeneratively, we heal ourselves and the land.
Every crop grown regeneratively carries nutrients that strengthen immunity, prevent disease, and restore vitality. Regenerative farming heals soils, rivers, and ecosystems, reversing the damage caused by synthetic fertilizers and GMO seeds. It reconnects Gambians to traditional herbal knowledge, where plants like moringa, neem, and baobab were always seen as both food and medicine.
The name emit itself!
EarthFarm is a regenerative initiative born from the Art Farm Collective, founded in 2014 (official registered 2018 and 2019) to uplift women/children through art and agriculture. We believe that food, culture, and ecology are inseparable — and that regeneration begins with relationships.
Our work blends art, education, agriculture, food, nutrition, natural medicine, ecosystem repair, and cultural repair, creating conditions for both people and the land to thrive.
Our Mission
EarthFarm exists to reconnect Gambian communities with the land and each other. We believe in the power of simple regenerative actions — planting trees, saving seeds, creating herbal gardens — that invest in the health of individuals, families, and ecosystems.
Our mission is to build a node of regeneration in Gunjur, a living classroom where children, women farmers, and neighbors learn together. By restoring soils, reviving herbal medicine, and protecting the River Gambia, we aim to prove that:
“Your food is your medicine.”
Background & Problem Statement
The Gambia faces interconnected challenges:
Youth migration (“the back way”) has led to loss of lives, culture, and community resilience.
Soil degradation and salinity intrusion threaten food security.
Synthetic inputs and GMO seeds erode seed sovereignty and damage ecosystems.
Loss of traditional herbal knowledge undermines health and cultural identity.
Communities in Gunjur and Berrending, especially women’s gardens, struggle to maintain fertility and livelihoods. Without regenerative alternatives, the cycle of ecological and social decline continues.
Solution
EarthFarm’s pilot project in Gunjur will demonstrate syntropic agroforestry and regenerative farming as solutions to soil degradation, food insecurity, and cultural loss.
Agroforestry & Tree Planting: 500 seedlings (moringa, mushrooms,stevia, native species) to restore soil and biodiversity.
Herbal Medicine Gardens: Moringa, soursop, aloa vera, tamarind — reconnecting food and medicine.
Water Security: Borehole, tanks and dripping pipe irrigational system, storage to sustain gardens year‑round.
Education & Workshops: Hands‑on training for women farmers, children, and schools.
Community Seed Bank: Protecting local varieties and ensuring seed sovereignty.
This is not about creating an island of abundance, but about acupuncture points in the earth — small but powerful interventions that ripple outward, regenerating ecosystems and relationships.
Opportunity
The Gunjur site is easily accessible, making it a hub for:
Community Education: Workshops, school gardens, and youth programs.
Women’s Empowerment: Strengthening women’s gardens and livelihoods.
Cultural Revival: Partnerships with traditional healers to preserve herbal knowledge.
Regional Replication: A model that can spread to Sukuta, Berrending, and beyond.
How We Regenerate
We engage in holistic approaches to regeneration, including:
Syntropic Agroforestry: Mimicking forest succession to restore soils.
Seed Sovereignty: Saving and sharing local varieties.
Herbal Medicine Integration: Healing gardens that connect food and health.
Community Commoning: Shared stewardship of land and resources.
Education Through Practice: Children and farmers learning by doing.
Budget & Goals
Minimum ($2,000): 2,662m sq. fencing, nursery setup, 200–300 seedlings, 2 workshops.
Maximum ($5,000): Borehole + tank, 500 seedlings, herbal medicine garden, 5 community work days.
Stretch Goals: School integration, community seed bank, regional regenerative network.
Tracking Impact
We will measure impact through:
Ecological Metrics: Trees planted, hectares restored, reduction in synthetic inputs.
Social Metrics: Number of women farmers and children engaged.
Health Metrics: Households benefiting from herbal medicine gardens.
Economic Metrics: Seed bank established, local produce reaching markets.
Qualitative data — stories of how families experience improved nutrition, cultural pride, and ecological resilience — will also be collected.
Our Team
Pa Doullou Kandeh — Farming, Art, Community Development (Founder & Vision Lead)
Sainey Badgie — Farming, Community Development (Field Operations)
Simon Brown — Landstory Project Support (Technical & Strategic Advisor)
Sireita Mullings — Academic Project Support, Youth Engagement
Traditional Healers & Women’s Gardens — Herbal medicine, cultural knowledge, local implementation
Together, we combine local wisdom, creative education, and regenerative practice to build a model that can be replicated across The Gambia.
Closing Statement
EarthFarm is more than a farm. It is a vision for regeneration — of soil, food, medicine, culture, and community. Starting in Gunjur, we are building a living classroom and demonstration site that proves regeneration begins with relationships.
"EarthFarm is not about creating an island of abundance. It is about acupuncture points in the earth — small but powerful interventions that restore ecological cycles, heal soils, reconnect communities, and remind us that your food is your medicine.
Project updates
Team
Location
Gambia