In Iquitos, farmers usually burn parts of the Amazon rainforest to grow food in the fertile soil, but now they have found alternatives to the destructive practice.
According to DW, this is a project that aims to create “productive agroforestry systems with local communities as a financially and environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional farming to halt deforestation”.
The way to accomplish the goal is to merge traditional Amazonian farming techniques with modern permaculture concepts.
“Like many other small farmers in the Amazon rainforest around the Peruvian city of Iquitos, Eder Perez grows just one crop — the yucca plant. But in order to do so, he burns down parts of the jungle to create fields. The plants thrive in the fertile ash-filled soil, but only for about a year. Then the farmers have to burn down a new patch”, DW said.
