Deep Bed Farming and the
In 2015 the United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which established a shared vision for global peace and prosperity. The Agenda is guided by 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which appreciate that the United Nation’s longstanding goal to end poverty requires a holistic approach that simultaneously tackles issues such as health, education, gender equality, and environmental sustainability.
How Deep Bed Farming solves eight SDGs
Tiyeni’s work with smallholder farmers across Malawi directly works towards solving eight of these 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which you can read about below. You can also click the icons to go directly to the United Nations webpage for each individual Goal to learn more.
Deep Bed Farming costs less than conventional farming and requires farmers to spend less time in the field. Farmers have time for additional income-generating entrepreneurial opportunities. Farmers report a ninefold growth in income within the first year of adoption.
Deep Bed Farming significantly contributes to eradicating hunger. By sustainably improving soil fertility and crop yields, Deep Bed Farming builds food security for households across Malawi. Families eat an average of one extra meal every day compared to peers using conventional farming.
Families using Deep Bed Farming achieve improved nutrition from diversified crop yields that increase in quantity and quality, as healthier soil produces crops with higher nutrient levels. These outcomes tackle malnutrition, such as lowering under-five wasting by 30%.
Tiyeni’s work is designed to empower women. We deliver gender training and emphasise the importance of women’s involvement in leadership roles to entire communities. Over 65% of the farmers that Tiyeni has trained are women.
Tiyeni’s projects are structured around water catchment management. Over 90% of rainwater is harvested as part of the Deep Bed Farming method, which increases farmers’ access to water for agricultural, domestic, and business purposes. Villages that adopt Deep Bed Farming have reliable access to self-supplied clean water resources within a maximum 30-minute radius.
Along with Loughborough University and the Consortium of Battery Innovation, Tiyeni is continuing to develop Aftrak, an affordable solar-powered tractor system that will empower smallholder farmers to transition to sustainable farming and land management. Aftrak won the 2024 $1 million Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy.
Deep Bed Farming is a powerful tool for climate change adaptation and mitigation. By breaking the soil hardpan and utilising regenerative land management practices such as crop rotation, inter-cropping, and agroforestry, Deep Bed Farming helps both farmers and natural environment build resilience to the effects of climate change.
Deep Bed Farming restores degraded land, which benefits from 80% decreased water runoff and 50% reduced soil erosion. Water catchment management promotes inland freshwater use. Tiyeni’s collaboration with the Malawian Ministry of Agriculture integrates ecosystem and biodiversity values into governmental planning and supports the delivery of their Malawi Vision 2063.
The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States.