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Some of you may have noticed that the Never Ending Food website has undergone a ‘re-design’.  This has been possible thanks to the endless support of the great people at Free Range Websites, a design consultancy agency based in Bristol, U.K.  They specialize in helping businesses and organizations in the creation of ‘living’ websites that are affordable, updateable, and have built-in ‘Search Engine Optimization’ (SEO) that helps to boost your on-line visibility.

The people behind Free Range Websites are strong supporters of Permaculture and the belief that solutions do exist for the design of a sustainable future.  With a combined effort of modern Information Technology (IT), and practical common-sense applications, we can all help to build a global network of like-minded solution-oriented people.  If you have any website design needs, we would strongly encourage that you consider using an ethically-minded company such as Free Range Websites.

Fence area under construction

We wanted to show you the immense benefits that can result from a bit of forward thinking.  In May of last year, we held a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at the site of an Orphan-care organization known as Children of the Nations.  The course was conducted on the grounds of a private residence who, at that time, was in the process of constructing a cyclone fence around a container unit that would be used as a multi-purpose storage space and dog kennel.  This top picture shows the foundation work being completed around the container in May of 2011. 

Completed fence being used in food production

Recently, we went to pay a visit to see some of the progress that had been made since the Permaculture training and were we ever surprised!  The area that was to become a fence had transformed (in less than 9 months) into an incredible climber/supporter food garden!  This second picture shows multi-species vine crops (local Lima beans, passion fruits, air potatoes, etc) climbing the newly erected fence and completely transforming the view of the metal container into that of an edible jungle.  Imagine if every public and private space were so well utilized…we would very quickly set the entire planet on a course of surplus and abundance!

Early-planted nutritionally deficient maize

Due to the very slow start to the rainy season here in Malawi during the month of December, many farmers who planted their seeds early found that they germinated and then died due to lack of moisture.  At the end of January we read that the government was attempting to redistribute over 30 metric tons of new seed to over 100,000 farmers.  Unfortunately, by the end of January there is only a little over a month of normal rainfall remaining.  Harvest season often starts in March and continues into April.  It would be a very rare crop of maize that could be replanted and come to maturity in just over a month’s time.  If, on the other hand, seed stock (cuttings) for food crops such as cassava or sweet potatoes were distributed, there would be a much greater chance of the farmers producing a sizeable harvest.  These are crops that are often planted later into the rainy season and come to maturity throughout the dry months.  One of the problems that we continue to face in Malawi, however, is that any crop that is supplementary to maize is often not viewed as ‘food’.

Late-planted chemically fertilized maize

The pictures above show the conditions of various maize crops around our area.  The picture on the left is of a maize crop that made it through the slow start to the rains, but has become malnourished due to a lack of soil fertility.  This field will probably not end up yielding much in terms of quantity or quality of food.  The picture on the right is of a maize crop that was planted very late into the season and has been heavily fertilized with chemical fertilizers.  One bag of fertilizer is currently being sold for around 10,000 kwacha (around $60 US) and a field this size would take about 2-3 bags to cover it properly ($120-$180 US).  There is no guarantee, however, that this crop will be able to mature in time for a substantial harvest.

Early-planted, organically-fed, mixed-crop maize field

This picture at the bottom is of our mixed-crop system that continues to thrive.  It was planted with the first rains and had no trouble making it through the dry spell due to the organic matter and mulch that we use.  It is developing well as can be seen from the comparison heights (with our daughter Khalidwe used to show perspective).  It is also much more nutrient-dense in the fact that we will be harvesting not only maize, but also pigeon peas, pumpkins, soy beans, amaranth, peanuts, bambara nuts, cowpeas, sunflower seeds, and more.  And, best of all…it has been FREE.  We save open-pollinated seeds that can be re-planted each year without needing to be purchased; we use a variety of naturally free methods to return nutrients to our soil (including compost, worm farming, mulching, composting toilets, liquid manure, planting of legumes, etc); and we mix our crops both in terms of diversity and in seasons.  This allows us to harvest nutritious foods throughout the year. Again, a win-win situation for the Permaculture approach!

We have some really exciting news to share with you! 

Using Permaculture As A Development Tool

Permaculture has just received a high-level endorsement as being a beneficial ‘Development Tool’ by none other than USAID, the funding and developmental branch for the majority of the United States’ International Aid efforts.   Kristof Nordin, from Never Ending Food, along with international development advocate, Kara Greenblott, co-authored a Technical Brief for USAID’s AIDSTAR-One project entitled: Permaculture Design for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programming: Low-Cost, Sustainable Solutions for Food and Nutrition Insecure Communities.  You may download a PDF version of the Technical Brief by clicking here.

Permaculture has had its ups and downs along the path of trying to break into mainstream thinking, but with organizations such as USAID taking the lead in such endeavors, we seem to finally be making some progress.  If you would like to know more about the benefits and even some of the obstacles of using Permaculture as a development tool, check out our new page ‘Permaculture as a ‘Development Tool’ by clicking here.