Kwesi Joseph helps communities across New York City’s five boroughs grow healthy food and care for urban green spaces. With Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York team, he works with community gardeners, urban farmers, and educators to improve soil health, increase plant nutrient density, and tackle challenges in vegetable production.
Kwesi works with natural processes like soil remineralization, no-till gardening, and carbon sequestration. He conducted a trial using rock dust to boost soil fertility and carbon sequestration, and is developing a biochar project with Cornell faculty and community gardeners.
A Master Composter since 2016, Kwesi spent six years as the Compost Manager at the Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Brooklyn, where he ran workshops, processed food scraps, and trained volunteers. He has partnered with the Action Research Collaborative (ARC), Cornell University Cooperative Extension (CUCE), the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) to expand gardening, nutrition education, and land use projects for families in transitional housing and underserved neighborhoods.
His work has appeared on NY1, The Weather Channel, and WNYC Radio, and has been covered by Gothamist and the Queens Ledger.
Kwesi holds a B.S. in Geology from York College, The City University of New York, an Executive MBA from Cornell’s Johnson School of Business, and a Master Composter Certificate from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Compost Project.
