I’m in a small village (approx. 6,000 population) about 45mins drive north from Mombasa. I say 45 mins, but in reality it’s more like 1hr 15 due to traffic, road works, cows on the road, potholes… (how much that sounds like UK traffic, except maybe the cows on the road!)
The village is right on the coast, and the traditional industry is fishing. But that is dying out due to the big fishing trawlers that have stolen the market, and the fish. So there are a lot of people trying to work out how to make ends meet, and put food on the table at the end of the day.
Enter Norbert’s permaculture project Asilomar, and the reason that I am here. Norbert Chumu is Kenyan who has spent quite a lot of his working life overseas in UK, USA and Europe, but has recently returned home in response to the challenging conditions that so many of his home community were facing with regard to food security. Before he came back here Norbert took a number of training courses in permaculture, and his focus now is on developing a demonstration garden and sharing the knowledge on this method of food production with the local community.
This is my third visit, and the progress that has been made on each visit is so great to see. Not only is there a fully working, and productive, demonstration garden, but Norbert and Lennox, his permaculture buddy, have also been able to take the knowledge into the local secondary school, thanks to a grant from the UK.
In April, 60 students from across the 4 years of secondary school were trained in permaculture practices, and a plot of land at the school was identified for cultivation using their new found knowledge. Since then, the students, under the guidance of Lennox and Norbert, have had a continuous harvest of vegetables thanks to cycles of sowing, and a climate that allows for ongoing crops of vegetables and fruits. Spinach, Sukuma wiki, cowpeas, tomatoes, okra, aubergine, green beans, onions, carrots…… The harvests go on. There are also bananas, papaya, soursop, lemons and oranges growing.
The school kitchen buys some of the produce, teachers buy some, community buys some, and the students take some home. As a result, meals are more nutritious, the word is spreading about organic farming (and how much better it tastes), and the students have made a small profit enough to buy a hosepipe, more seeds, and some tree seedlings.
A very good programme already, and today I was introduced to an additional aspect of it that shows an even better outcome. Enter ‘the 7’ – seven lads who are so committed to permaculture that they have started putting their knowledge into practice at their homes. Today I visited some of their homes and saw their plots of land that they are using and the crops that they are growing. The land in the area is quite rocky, so each of them has had to work hard to clear the land to get it prepared, but they’ve done so well. The rocks are much reduced in number, the soil has had compost dug in, they are mulching, and the crops are growing. One of the lads doesn’t have any land that he can cultivate, so he has gone for the urban farming approach and grows his crops in sacks. Another is trialling both – cultivating a plot of land, and also growing in sacks. One of his reflections was that the sack method uses less water, and in an area where access to water is a challenge, this is definitely a consideration to bear in mind.
I asked the lads what were the main challenges that they face and the overwhelming was access to water. Rains are low in this area, and rainwater harvesting isn’t practical for many as they live in thatched roof homes, or rented homes, and don’t have the capital to set up guttering etc even if they were able. Boreholes are around, but for some it’s quite a walk, so the mulching etc to reduce water evaporation is crucial. The other main challenges are the chickens who roam wild and love the little new shoots of vegetables, and similarly the moles who seem to pop up from down below in the middle of the night for their feasting! Unused fishing nets are proving to be a good deterrent to the chickens, but the moles are more of a challenge. However, it doesn’t seem to be stopping the lads, their commitment is really impressive.
The 7 are all really keen to share their knowledge more widely, both through practical demonstrations and also through getting more training in the science behind the method so that they can teach it to others. Having seem them in action today, and heard the passion with which they talk about permaculture and its wide range of benefits, I have no doubt that they will succeed in achieving their goal, and what a blessing that will be to this community and beyond.
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