Keeling Curve

Primary Project Category:

Secondary Project Category:

Project Summary / Description:

The first phase of the project was to fill an acute food need that arose in early 2020 during the pandemic. The aim was to be able to hand out food to at least 50 households in a month. We doubled that in the first few months. The second phase (2021) was to get the neighborhood involved. So, we introduced the volunteer days. The third phase was to teach the neighbors how to plant at home and how to prepare the vegetables. In the following phases (2022), a network of similar regenerative food endeavors was connected through a registry. The aim is for all ‚ farms‚ to become self-sufficient by having enough yield to be able to fill their own needs, if relevant pay the workers and the operational expenses, while still achieving social goals like free handouts. Since last year, this project has been exported to other neighborhoods.

Regions of Operations:

How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

Replaces/avoids GHGs (e.g., projects that replace sources of GHGs, such as the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, transport, or other energy uses), Reduces GHGs (e.g., projects that reduce sources of GHGs, such as through efficiency or other changes in consumption), Removes/stores GHGs (e.g., projects that capture, sequester, or otherwise enhance the "sinks" that accumulate and store GHGs)

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Island states are at the forefront of climate change impacts, yet are overlooked in mainstream discourse, funding, and support to ensure the environment and people are protected against the worst consequences. 95% of food items are imported and are costly and low caloric.
This project sheds light on the ways that small Caribbean island states can use existing resources to build up sustainable infrastructures to become more self-sufficient and enhance food security. With limited space allocated for agriculture (6.4% of total island surface) and scarce natural resources (no fresh water sources), urban farming gives new purpose to unused spaces and lower-income city inhabitants, mostly the elderly population, access to local produce and healthy, nutritious products with a low carbon footprint.
The yields of the gardens provide the chance for the less mobile to contribute to processing the produce and earn some extra income. The women in the neighborhood have been watering and planting seeds for the nursery for the last 2.5 years. The young men, with only a high school diploma, learned skills and were coached in opening their own businesses and are now offering their gardening services to other parties, making a living, and supporting their young families.
With more local production the carbon footprint of green food items could be lowered, especially for the commercial users in the neighborhood. Most of the neighbors are not able to afford fresh greens on a regular basis as these are expensive and not offered at inner city mini markets.

Sub-Categories:

Mission Statement:

This is a volunteer project jumpstarted by the Seru di Otrobanda neighborhood committee during the pandemic. The project manager, an inhabitant of the barrio working as a terrestrial biologist at the time, was asked to set up the project. Neighborhood youths were asked to apply and work 4 hours a week, paid by the committee. After the initial sponsorships ended by the start of 2021, the project manager took over completely, taking care of the planning and financials of the project. Every second Saturday of the month all neighbors get together for the big jobs, harvesting, and quality time. After the initial need for food was met and the pandemic lockdown ended, the neighbors were given the chance to follow a course to get their own mini garden at home. The food forest is one of 3 pilot plots in the Kolektivo Curacao food forest island-wide registry.