The smallholder farmers of indigenous cultures seek to live in harmony with the earth. Biodynamic farming is for them a way of bringing together tradition and innovation to achieve a unity of earth, humans and cosmos.
Tamil tribal communities had lived in harmony with nature since 3000 BCE. This balance was shattered in the 1960s by the Green Revolution – the invasive use of fertilizers and pesticides – which engulfed smallholder farmers into economic and ecological crises despite the promise of increased yields.
Discovering biodynamic approaches was a turning point for many such farmers, for instance Anthoni Selvi, who learned about biodynamic farming in 2012 and now manages Joyful Dynamic Farm in Tamil Nadu, India. In an interview in ‘Living Farms’, the magazine of the Goetheanum’s Section for Agriculture, she says, “This period transformed my life. I not only learned new agricultural techniques but also embraced a new way of thinking. I became more connected to the earth, my work and the cosmic rhythms, which enriched my life tremendously.” Feya Marince, co-founder of the Indigenous Biodynamic Association of Africa, confirms this, “We’ve come to realize that we cannot continue with the industrial, conventional agriculture imposed on us by colonialism.” She is convinced that indigenous cultures “help us rediscover what life truly is.”
As the biodynamic movement celebrates its 100th anniversary, the main question is how this holistic approach can be fostered so that the connection between the earth, human beings and the cosmos can be further developed. The Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum therefore chose to entitle its annual conference in 2025 ‘The Earth as a Living Being‘. Practitioners and researchers will speak about what characterizes the earth as a living being, how farmers, traders and consumers can live in harmony with the earth, and how, rather than exploit its resources, they can contribute to its healthy development.
