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Permaculture – the idea of living lightly on the planet – has been around for half a century. For some, it’s a sustainable and environmentally friendly way of living. For those living in countries devastated by climate change, it can be the difference between life and death.
For Word Forest, permaculture is an initiative that’s grown along with the trees that we and the local communities in Kenya have been planting and nurturing for many years.
In this series of three articles, we explore the 12 permaculture principles and how the communities in Kenya are using permaculture to live securely on the land. Part 1 and Part 2 cover the principles of permaculture. This part describes the challenges the communities in Kenya face and how Word Forest is supporting them as they develop permaculture practices to survive and thrive.
Drastic Times Need Powerful Solutions
Climate change continues to wreak havoc in Kenya, with rising temperatures and erratic rainfall leading to frequent droughts and occasional floods.
Desertification of the land leads to crop failures, loss of livestock and food insecurity. Water scarcity forces people to drink from poor quality sources, leading to increased waterborne diseases. Major locust infestations, with swarms around the size of the Lake District National Park, have decimated maize, the country’s staple crop.
These conditions force people into activities that cause greater harm, such as deforestation and burning trees for charcoal. Wildlife habitats and biodiversity are threatened, generating a dangerous spiral of climate-damaging events.
Permaculture is a solution that can really make a difference.
By integrating permaculture principles into everyday life, communities can improve their food security and find a way out of poverty while also conserving scarce resources and combating climate change.
The Challenge
Permaculture is still in its infancy in Kenya and many barriers remain in the path of its growth and wide acceptance.
Some locals have deep indigenous knowledge and understanding of their environment, but many people know very little about permaculture or horticultural techniques such as taking cuttings and propagation. They need training and help with initial setup costs and resources such as land, tools, saplings and seeds.
Although the Kenyan government is not preventing the introduction of permaculture methods, it is also not actively supporting these efforts. Charities like Word Forest need to fill this gap.
Preparing for Permaculture
For many years we’ve been working with local communities in Kenya to plant trees, develop women’s support groups and build stone classrooms.
It turns out this work has also laid the foundations for permaculture initiatives to grow and flourish.
The Advantage of Agroforestry
Agroforestry is the integration of trees and shrubs with agricultural practices. This approach creates a more sustainable and productive use of the land. It improves biodiversity, enhances soil fertility, enables better water management and increases productivity. The trees we’ve planted provided a great starting point for developing permaculture food forests.
Marvellous Mothers
In Kenya, women are often in charge of the shamba – the homestead – and are responsible for growing food for the family. So the women in the Mothers of the Forest groups were the best people to receive training and resources to develop permaculture gardens and food forests.
The group leaders have received training from local experts, and our horticultural trustee, Phil Gamble, delivered training courses to the groups. Phil reported that all the women were keen to learn as much as possible in the training courses. They diligently wrote down every word and were always eager for more!
Success With Schools
Schools are good locations for creating new permaculture gardens, with parents, teachers and students able to plant and nurture the gardens. Our role in building classrooms for schools means we can use these relationships to develop a permaculture garden alongside any classrooms that we build. The produce from the garden helps to provide meals for the school day and improve food security for all.
Hope for the Future
Most women from the Mothers groups now have a kitchen garden and are spreading their permaculture knowledge and experience to their families and wider communities. Phil continues to deliver training remotely and we’ve provided Eva, the group leader, with a laptop so she can share training videos with the others.
Our 4-acre permaculture training centre in Garashi has an office, kitchen, storeroom, classroom, tree nursery and woodland. We hope to build another centre on Rusinga Island when funding allows.
We are developing more lessons for the community on permaculture and agroforestry principles, focusing on the topics that are particularly relevant to the local areas. We also intend that one day every school will have a kitchen garden and food forest.
Win-Win
By enthusiastically embracing permaculture, the local communities are reaping the rewards with increased yields and an income from selling surplus goods. Growing a variety of crops instead of just maize creates better food security and resilience as well as improving diets and reducing malnutrition.
Permaculture provides a way for people to lift themselves out of poverty and at the same time supports Word Forest’s overarching goal to combat climate change through planting trees in Kenya.
Alison Walton
