Resilient farm
In addition to the permagarden, the farm design implemented during the training included swales on contour which deliver destructive flood water from nearby gullies and foot paths into Grace’s farm. The interconnected system of three long swales across Grace’s farm make use of rainwater that would otherwise flow past her farm, accumulate in volume and flow downhill, contributing to erosion of farms all the way down the hill. Instead, this water is directed into the top swale, which flows into the lower two swales where the water settles. This allows the water to slow, spread and sink so that moisture is retained in the soil long-term.
Through the training, DRC also established a food forest which was planted in a way that also harvests water and nutrients for each individual tree. The food forest includes many different trees such as mango, avocado, banana, papaya, guava, citrus, neem and moring. A bamboo wall was put up around Grace’s farm, planted with a local bamboo variety, so that Grace can also use the bamboo for high quality building timber and charcoal. The bamboo also provides a material for constructing gardening trellises for vining plants that add more growing area, as well as habitat for pollinators and predators. Grace has reported that although her land is now covered in a diversity of different crops, she is experiencing very few issues with pests.
This is something she has continued to be surprised by, as she does have much more insect life on the farm now but very little damage to her crops. Grace understands this as part of the natural cycle, where there is an increase in pests but also of predators so nature balances itself out - without the use of damaging pesticides.
Currently Grace and the team are working to reinforce earth and stone works in the dry season so that when it rains again, they will be ready to capture and harvest the water and nutrients. They are also doing lots of ‘chop and drop’ whereby the trees are pruned for any dead foliage and those dead leaves are left on the ground to cover the soil and fertilise the earth. Grace has also managed to harvest many kilos of seeds from her plants (as only regenerative seeds were planted initially) which she is saving for the rainy season to plant.
Not only has her new approach to farming increased her family’s resilience, but it is now a demonstration site frequently visited by her neighbours, local government departments and the wider community, curious to better understand the principles of permaculture and resilience farm design, and how they could benefit from applying them to their own farms. This has meant there has been a natural upscale of the resilience approach applied on Grace’s farm, as eleven of the women and families around her have also established permagardens as a result of seeing the benefits of Grace’s. They have all been helping each other and have been eating and selling food from their own farms and gardens.
The current food insecurity in the region is partly due to inadequate farming practices, lack of resilience to climatic shocks and the length of food supply chains. The preventive measures implemented in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 – and in particular movement restrictions – will inevitably impact food security, livelihoods and community resilience.
This emphasises the importance of rethinking current agricultural models, which is why DRC promotes the localisation of food production through strategies such as bio-intensive, agroecological, agroforestry and permaculture-based resilience design approaches, including household permagardens or permaculture farms to prevent an over-reliance on imports and to mitigate the impacts of increases in food prices. These efforts to restore community agroecosystems boost food security and soil health, and buffer communities from impacts of climate and weather extremes.
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