KUTLUHAN ÖZDEMIR

Kutluhan Özdemir’s path is shaped by movement, listening and direct experience.

For many years, he travelled extensively around the world, seeking not methods but encounters — meeting farmers, practitioners and communities inspired by the work of Masanobu Fukuoka. These journeys were not academic research, but lived exchanges: working the land together, observing different climates and cultures, and learning how natural farming adapts itself to each place when approached with humility.

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One of the most formative chapters of this journey unfolded in Edessa, Greece, where Kutluhan lived and worked at the natural farm of Panos Manikis, one of Fukuoka’s direct students. Over time, Panos entrusted him with the care and continuation of the farm — not as an inheritance, but as a gesture of trust and transmission. There, natural farming ceased to be an idea and became a daily practice, lived through seasons, failures, patience and deep observation.

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This path eventually led Kutluhan to Italy, where he established Natural Farm Shizen together with his partner, Manuela. Shizen is a place rooted in natural farming, learning and human encounter. The farm grew slowly, shaped by the land itself and by the people who passed through it, becoming a living practice center and a point of reference.

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Together with Manuela and a committed group of volunteers, Kutluhan co-founded the association RAN – Rete per l’Agricoltura Naturale, a network created to connect natural farming places and experiences across Italy. RAN was born from the need to weave relationships, share knowledge horizontally, and support one another beyond isolation — allowing seeds, practices and trust to travel.

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Alongside farming and writing, Kutluhan facilitates workshops and learning experiences in many different places, in Italy and internationally. These gatherings are hosted by farms, communities and local initiatives, and are rooted in direct experience, observation and presence rather than in fixed formulas.

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In Italy, these workshops are offered without a fixed price, based on free donation. This choice reflects a desire to keep learning accessible and non-transactional, allowing each person to contribute according to their possibilities and their heart.

Alongside farming and teaching, Kutluhan also writes poetry. His poems arise from the same source as his work with the land: silence, observation and intimacy with life. Writing becomes another form of listening — a way to give voice to what is sensed beneath words, where inner and outer landscapes meet.

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Kutluhan has also written books that explore both the practical and philosophical dimensions of natural farming, inviting readers to reconsider not only how food is grown, but how life itself is approached.

In recent years, his path has expanded further into Africa, supporting natural farming, food sovereignty and reforestation initiatives in collaboration with local communities. These projects focus on regeneration — of soil, ecosystems and human dignity — through simple, low-input approaches adapted to local realities.

Reforestation actions, seed-based projects and educational initiatives continue to unfold in different parts of the world, guided by the same principle that has marked his journey from the beginning: to do less, listen more, and allow life to organize itself.

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Kutluhan’s work does not seek to impose systems or models, but to open spaces where learning can happen through experience. At the heart of all these paths — farming, workshops, writing, poetry and travel — lies a single orientation: to serve the land and life with attention, trust and care.