Dr. Xin Zhang has assembled an international consortium of agricultural researchers in a program entitled “Sustainable Agriculture Matrix: A transdisciplinary and transnational network to guide the pursuit of sustainable agriculture”. The consortium includes researchers from the United States, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Austria, and sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Ghana, and Morocco). The project is funded by the Belmont Forum, an international funding organization supporting transnational and transdisciplinary research.

Xin, and her faculty research assistant Kevin Jackson, organized two Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM) workshops, the first workshop was in Istanbul, hosted by Dr. Levent Ozturk in October 2022. The second workshop was in Panama in June 2023. The first workshop piggybacked with an International Nitrogen Workshop in Madrid, Spain. The second workshop piggybacked with the Sustainability Research & Innovation 2023 conference in Panama City. Both workshops were hybrid, which helped since some of our African research colleagues had visa and other personal issues, precluding their travel to Istanbul or Panama.

Both workshop locations were in boundary locations; Istanbul at the intersection of Asia and Europe and Panama at the intersection of Central and South America and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The bonus of being in such iconic locations was the ability to experience unique cultures and impressive sights.

The SAM project has generated a series of impressive products in a short amount of time. For example, Xin was first author of a paper published in the journal One Earth entitled “Quantitative assessment of agricultural sustainability reveals divergent priorities among nations” describing the SAM approach. In addition, Kevin Jackson has developed a web interface for the Sustainable Agriculture Matrix which can be found here: https://research.al.umces.edu/sam/.

As I have a predilection to generate songs to commemorate significant workshops, I produced a song at the end of the Istanbul workshop, entitled “Feed the World”, based on the Band Aid song:

Feed the World

21 Oct 2022

It’s Matrix time, there’s no need to be afraid

At Matrix time, we let in the light and we banish shade

And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world at Matrix time

But work on SAM, work to make it better

I know the Matrix is hard, but when you’re having fun

There’s Istanbul outside your window

And it’s a world we need not fear

Where ag is sustainable

And we can work together

And the Matrix helps us bring

The Belmont funding we need

Well today thank God we have the right team

And we have stakeholders help with the Matrix time

The greatest gift we’ll get this year is here

In Istanbul we grow

Where ideas just flow

Do they know it’s Matrix time at all?

Here’s to you

Raise a glass for everyone

Here’s to them

In every partner country

Do they know it’s Matrix time at all?

Feed the world

Feed the world

Feed the world

Feed the world

Feed the world

Let them know it’s Matrix time

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At the end of the Panama workshop, I played the song “Brave”, based on Sara Bereilles’ “Brave”:

Brave

25 June 2023

We can be amazing

We can turn science into a weapon or an aid

We can be the catalyst

Or be the backlash of somebody's ignorance

Or we can start speaking up

Nothing's gonna hurt us the way that words do

When they settle 'neath our skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight

Sometimes ignorance wins

But I wonder what would happen if we

Say what we wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see us be brave

With what we want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see us be brave

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I wanna see us be brave

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I wanna see us be brave

Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down

By the enemy

Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing

Bow down to the mighty

But don't run, stop holding our tongue

Maybe there's a way out of the cage where we live

Maybe the new collaboratory can let the light in

Show us how big our brave is

Say what we wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see us be brave

With what we want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see us be brave

Innocence, your history of silence

Won't do you any good

Did you think it would?

Let our words be anything but empty

Why don't we tell them the truth?

Say what we wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see us be brave

With what we want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see us be brave

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I wanna see us be brave

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

I just wanna see us

See us be brave

Our SAM team members were able to enjoy the company of one another in both Istanbul and Panama; sharing meals, field trips and various interactive activities. The songs were just another way to bring us together for a shared experience.