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Growth doesn't have to mean getting bigger. For communities, it often just means getting stronger by finding others who share their struggles and can learn from their wins. Extension is about creating links and helping good ideas travel far and wide.

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Our role is to act as a bridge, helping communities share what they've built with others who are ready to listen and adapt.

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Here’s what that looks like in practice:

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We host "How-We-Did-It" Sessions, where The Goal is sharing knowledge without creating a polished, one-size-fits-all "toolkit." For instance, we facilitate a low-fidelity knowledge transfer from one community to another. ‍

Say for instance a successful farmers' co-op in Region A has a great model for collective seed storage. Instead of us writing a report, we help them host a simple, videocall with a fledgling co-op in Region B. The founders from Region A share their mistakes, their record-keeping system, and answer direct questions. We might help record this session (with permission) to share with a third group. As a result, the knowledge is passed on with all its necessarycontext and nuance, directly from the source. The receiving group gets to adapt the principles, not just copy arbitary rules decided in offices.

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We create "Traveling Guides", where the goal is to make community knowledge visible and usable by others. We help communities document their own processes in their own voice. For instance, a women's collective has a powerful system for mediating internaldisputes. We work with them to create a "Traveling Guide, a simple set of steps, illustrated with their own photos and diagrams, explaining their process. This isn't a fancy manual; it's a photocopied zine or a PDF thatthey own and control.

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We help build a "You Are Not Alone" Network, where the aim is to combat isolation and build solidarity. We create simple, ongoing channels for connection. Communities gain a support system. They can solve problems collectively, share resources, and advocate for their rights with a stronger, united voice.

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Finally, we support "Skill-Swaps", where the goal is mutual aid between communities, not one-way extraction. Exchange becomes reciprocal and respectful. Both parties give and receive value, strengthening the ecosystem as a whole without any money changing hands.

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Extending is not just about scaling up - although sometimes it is and we want to get to a place where we can help producers expand into new markets. Most of the time though, It's about weaving a wider web. It's ensuring that a good idea in one place doesn't die there in isolation, but can travel, adapt, and take root in another, all while keeping the community in control of their own story.

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As simple as it sounds, you would be surprised by the level of gatekeeping and silos created on purpose by large donors or NGOs, so they remain in control. We decided to change that.

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If you're interestedin sharing your skills pro-bono with those that would need them in difficult times, or join us in another capacity, e-mail us so we can get the conversation going!

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