Abstract
While the high-tech agricultural practices of global agribusiness are often extolled as
“advanced,” there has been growing recognition that many traditional farming techniques offer
essential advantages in terms of sustainability, equity and other values. Haritachala Organics, a
nonprofit farm, bakery and store, needed a platform to connect with potential customers, to share
product information and to answer questions. As one of the design and marketing executives of
the company and a computer science major, I was presented with the opportunity to design and
implement a user-centered website for this non-profit. The process of developing this website
was broken down into four main stages: requirements elicitation, design, implementation, and
testing. The tools used for the creation included Figma for designing a high-fidelity prototype,
the React Java Script framework for developing the website that was connected to a Firebase
backend, and GitHub for version control.
Since the 1980s, small farmers in India have led a growing permaculture movement.
They were responding to numerous stresses, including limited access to credit, a water crisis, and
low commodity prices. While the movement has received research attention, organic farming
practices and permaculture are best understood from the perspectives of small farmers, who offer
a path toward a future of more sustainable agriculture. Such perspectives are offered here.
