Permaculture is a design process that models on nature to steer us into building sustainable regenerative and long lasting systems. Nature runs on feedback, self regulates and over time becomes increasingly diverse and interconnected. These features are what builds resilience, the ability to withstand outside shocks and unexpected change. Permaculture is based on observation: it is a way of seeing and planning rather than a belief system or an academic exercise. Making compost, protecting soils, managing water, air flows, working with natural materials and growing food are universal experiences from which we can all draw examples and permaculture merely joins these individual experiences together into a coherent whole.
On the Dolen Ffermio farm at Kamuli we had the chance to apply these ideas to a very real situation. The course follows a 12 day pattern of study, building common reference points and concepts which allows a group to find consensus and build a long term vision together for a design based on mutual understanding. It is a very powerful and effective tool and the challenge of presenting it in an East African context was a great test for the durability and portability of these ideas.
We worked with 15 participants, half of whom came to us via existing Dolen Ffermio contacts (all 6 members of the Kamuli team – Moses Kitimbo, Daniel, Connie, Wilberforce, Rachael and Paul; from Ngora Hellen Aanyu and Darius; and from Nyero Joseph Opolot). The others, funded largely by Crowdfunding, came from across Uganda and Kenya. It was an extremely powerful experience for all of us and the resulting design, on the 40 acre Dolen Ffermio plot, created a holistic design for a learning and demonstration centre with far reaching vision and ambition.
Much more could be said and I invite you to follow our course blog on www.permaculturedesigncourse.co.uk to find out more. I thank Moses, Connie and Paul for contributing so much to getting this course off the ground and to everyone who took part for making it such a worthwhile experience – group photo below. We will be back for more in 2017 and anyone wanting to be involved should contact me via Sector39, our permaculture teaching practice in Llanrhaeadr.
This is what Joseph Opolot had to say about his experience on the course: “The knowledge I acquired on the Permaculture Course opened my thinking and now I have a plan to implement it in my community and Uganda at large. I have secured an acre of land to be used as a bamboo plantation for our children to act as a source of raw material for them to be able to develop their art and craft skills.” and here is a picture of him on Andrew’s plantation (see final page).