We agroforesters are often also proselityzers: we are passionate about what we know and wish to share it with the world in general and farmers far and wide in particular. Thus it was that when Adolfo Rosati and Darcy Gordon, a husband and wife team who run a wonderful agroforestry farm called Località il Piano in Umbria, Italy, received a call from Etienne Compagnon seeking to feature their farm on their new podcast series, "the regenerative agroforestry podcast", it did not take them long to say yes.
"Sharing knowledge is indeed an essential habit all farmers should have", said Adolfo. As a scientist who knows that volunteering to review colleagues’ papers is a fundamental service to the scientific community, Adolfo was keen to share Darcy's and his' successes and mistakes. The example of more experienced farmers is essential for a successful development of sustainable agriculture. This is especially true in agroforestry, an approach to agriculture with tremendous potential to improve farm economic and environmental sustainability, but a pioneering approach that still lacks abundant experience and literature.
"So we decided to respond," Adolfo added. "Etienne and Dimitri were very nice and very professional at once. It was a pleasure to see enthusiasm combined with commitment, consistency and professionality. Their approach is to stir the interview toward both inspiring life stories, but more importantly towards sharing very practical and priceless information on details you rarely find elsewhere."
Their interview became an exercise in joint learning: discussing strategies and decisions with a perspective of including them in a podcast allowed Darcy and Adolfo to revisit some of the stumbling blocks and successes on their journey with a fresh perspective: "the interview was an opportunity for us to gain more insight". It is part of a growing series that currently includes 10 other episodes. So, as you all go home and relax for the holidays, visit and enjoy the shows!
Patrick Worms