ONE SQUARE METER GARDEN MOVEMENT: “We don’t need one acre of land, we need one square meter and community resilience.”

We learned that the Green Revolution increased food production but also caused problems such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss, farmers’ dependence on external resources, and, as a result, a vulnerable food system. It also led to a growing gap between consumers and the food system that supports them. Now, our food systems in Asia (especially in our case: Japan and Indonesia) face new challenges, such as an aging farming population, fewer young people interested in agriculture, and systems that are vulnerable to climate change, economic pressures, and supply chain disruptions.

Our proposal is simple, but it could create a meaningful movement.

Instead of asking more people to become full-time farmers, we create "food citizens" and the 1 SQM Garden of Resilience movement. We create a movement and educational training supports for people who believe that resilience can start with just one square meter of space. Our mission is grounded in Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming and his philosophy in The One Straw Revolution in response to the impact of the Green Revolution. To make this movement affordable for everyone, especially those living in the city and short on time and budget, we encourage participants to turn balconies, schoolyards, rooftops, and small community spaces into places for growth and learning.

Using our model, which combines a systems-thinking approach that integrates natural-social and science capital, participants can create a 1SQM edible garden, observe, journal, and share knowledge with others around the world. Through citizen science, storytelling, and community learning, they can reconnect with the important relationship between soil, seeds, food, and their community.

Our pilot project on April 25, 2026, that was held in Jakarta, showed that we don’t need an acre of land to start growing and improving our food system; it can start with a packet of seeds, a handful of compost, a supportive community, and the courage to begin with just one square meter. (Here’s the link to our pilot project that was covered in national news in Indonesia: https://megapolitan.antaranews.com/berita/526908/dari-revolusi-sebatang-jerami-ke-gerakan-satu-meter-persegi-membangun-ketahanan-pangan).