ICPPC - Międzynarodowa Koalicja dla Ochrony Polskiej Wsi Poland Project Stage: Scaling Budget: $1,000 - $10,000 Website: https://www.changemakers.com/www.eko-cel.pl%2C%20www.icppc.pl Environment Project SummaryElevator Pitch Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences. Jadwiga Lopata is creating an alternative "eco-village" economy for rural Poland by introducing family farms to the emerging premium markets for organic produce and livestock, and building a cottage eco-tourism industry around the lifestyle of natural farming. About Project Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific! Jadwiga Lopata recognized that Poland's many small family-owned farms were ideally suited to convert to organic farming methods and thereby benefit from the emerging premium market for organic produce and livestock. In order to be able to make this shift, however, supplemental income was required. Jadwiga's solution was to provide families converting to organic farming with a steady stream of visitors (mostly urban families from Western Europe) who happily pay for the opportunity to stay, eat, and work on the farms. Thus, Jadwiga demonstrates to rural farmers that not only is organic farming viable, but so is their bucolic lifestyle. This tangible material re-valuation of family farming is precisely the antidote required by family farms to enable them to resist the encroachment of large-scale agribusiness. Printer-friendly version