Permaculture Design seeks to build mutually beneficial relationships. And since 2016 Paul Ogola and I have been developing ways to support our own mutual vision for permaculture education to grow and establish in East Africa. We have been supporting each other with ideas, inspiration and training since that time.
It was late in 2020 that the idea came to us that we could collaborate in a whole new way, by joining our ambitions together. The initial goal Paul has set for PermoAfrica and Homa Bay permaculture is to eradicate food poverty in Homa Bay county. Sector39 on the other hand has the ambition accelerate the spread of permaculture education and to try and maintain a consistent high quality. These are overlapping and mutually beneficial goals, especially when you realise that some of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world are around Lake Victoria in East Africa. If we want to accelerate the uptake of permaculture education then this is the place to do it.
There are many small farmers in Homa bay county and in recent years Paul and his training team have reached over 500 people from that area, and have built a network of over 30 villages, all practicing permaculture to a greater or lesser extent. By placing students with Paul, from regions we can share the learning, broaden the experience and provide more momentum and support to the work at PermoAfrica and the Homa bay network around it.
Welcome to Faith and Caroline who have traveled down from near Fort Portal Western Uganda to be here and today is their first day at the centre. Their mission is to learn as much as they can from the centre, to begin to understand some of the systems that in place there and too see how permaculture design can work across a whole community.
It all starts with soil
One of the first topic areas we will want the students to engage in is sol, soil conservation, soil biology, compost and how to build soil for long term, permanent ferility.
Photos from day 2
The team have been caring for the plants at the nursery, watering the mornings before the sun is too hot and having a lecture each day from Paul.
Topics have so far included soil and soil building. Companion plants and plant guilds as well as learning through interacting with the training centre gardens, wormary and other compost processes and more. They were planting seeds this morning.
The two Ugandans are joined by an international volunteer from France and the three are working and studying together as a student guild also.
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