SOL Magazine Issue # 6 Winter 2010.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the multi-talented eighteenth century German philosopher, called "our earthly ball...a peopled garden." Maybe our earthly ball still looked like it back then, although we have seen great and worrisome changes since then. But we do share this image of earth as paradise once more, upheld by a beautiful global visionary in the Russian taiga. However, we also know that if we want that image back, of an Earthly paradise spreading like a green wildfire, we will have to re-create it and, moreover, hold hands tightly to do so. The international permaculture community is a wonderful example of ongoing, growing networking activities all over the planet - one person, one project, one village/region/nation at a time. Their 20 years of efforts, more recently fueled by increasing hope and passion, might inspire those of our own readers who are looking to network, connect and build a more conscious global community - to flourish, hand in hand, with all our like-minded planetary family.
By Mugove Walter Nyika
The 9th International Permaculture Conference and Convergence.
"Africa is rich and has the potential to lead the world out of the mess in which we are all finding ourselves. The barrier between Africa and prosperity is in the minds of its people. Education is therefore key in moving forward and the more home-grown this can be the better. I believe that this scenario is also relevant to many other parts of the
world."
The International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC) is a biennial global but grassroots gathering that took place in Africa for the very first time during October and November of 2009. The 9th IPC was a series of four events and was coordinated by the RESCOPE Programme from the warm heart of Africa, Malawi. IPC8 happened in Brazil in 2007 and IPC10 will take place in Jordan in 2011. The year between the respective IPCs is left for regional convergences and conferences. (Additional information:
www.ipcon.org)
The first event was the IPC9 International Permaculture Design Certificate course hosted by Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, where 37 participants from 19 countries attended the two week course taught by an international permaculture training team. The course was a key part of the process of defining an appropriate permaculture curriculum for Africa. Feedback from many of the participants contained glowing praise for the spirit at the course, many of whose graduates went on to attend the Convergence and Conference in Malawi.
The graduation ceremony for the course was officiated by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management in the Government of Zimbabwe, Honorable Francis Nhema, who made an impassioned plea for a return to all things natural.
The second event was the IPC9 Convergence which took place thereafter at Kumbali
Lodge in Lilongwe, Malawi. 170 participants from all five continents
converged in Lilongwe and spent the first two days of the Convergence
learning from each other under the theme Designing Solutions for a
Sustainable Future. The sub themes were Plan Africa – Food
and Empowerment, Education and Training; Green Economics, Health, Gender
and Climatic Change.
The outcomes of the thematic discussions at the Convergence include the following:
• A commitment by many participants to take the Plan Africa initiative forward. Data collection for the initiative started at the Convergence and the main aim is to give the ecologically sustainable thrust in Africa a major push.
• The development of a curriculum for training in Permaculture in Africa. The development of the African Permaculture Institute received support and was felt to be overdue.
• The potential role of Permaculture as an effective tool for addressing many of the global challenges ranging from Climatic change to HIV and AIDS was highlighted in many of the deliberations.
The third and fourth days were organized using open space technology to allow the participants to follow their energies to work on issues of their choice. (Key people to contact about the list and outcome of the thematic discussions are: John Wilson at
spiritvaults@yahoo.co.uk and Mada Siebert at
madalief@googlemail.com.)
Event number three, the IPC9 Conference, was attended by more than 300 participants. It brought together farmers, government officials, teachers, children, extension and development workers among other stakeholders. The Permanent Secretary for Nutrition and HIV and AIDS in the Office of the President and Cabinet for Malawi, Dr. Mary Shawa officially opened the conference in which she expressed support for Permaculture as a "useful tool for achieving human well being." The conference also included a variety of informative displays put up by participants from all over the world. The last event consisted of the IPC9 Site Tours which started in Lilongwe, Malawi and ended in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photographs and video clips of the sites visited will be available on the web site (www.ipcon.org).
The Future.
Bids to host the 10th International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC10) in 2011 were received from Cuba, Jordan and Nepal. The International Support Group facilitated a transparent process to select the host for IPC10 during the Convergence: Congratulations to Jordan!
Lessons learned.
• Permaculture in Africa is about putting food on the table. It is also about livelihoods and health and everything in between.
• Permaculture design in Africa focuses on water and a lot more needs to be done in this area.
• Design for local self sufficiency in energy is also important.
• The future is here and it is "in school" now and one of the best things that we can do for the future is to equip the younger generations with land-use design skills and to empower them with an appropriate mind set.
• Africa is rich and has the potential to lead the world out of the mess in which we are all finding ourselves. The barrier between Africa and prosperity is in the minds of its people. Education is therefore key in moving forward and the more home grown this can be the better. I believe that this scenario is also relevant to many other parts of the world.
Conclusions.
IPC9 was a momentous occasion for Malawi, Africa, and indeed the world. The energy that ran through the events was amazing and to think that this was put together by volunteers operating on a zero budget until the last few weeks prior to the events was incredible. IPC9 was another lesson that showed us that anything is possible with determination and that small is not only beautiful but it can also be powerful.
What matters are the interconnections between the small elements and you have a resilient system. The Conference and Convergence gave recognition to the work done by June Walker, among others, in promoting Permaculture in Malawi and across the world. Finally, it is no coincidence that IPC8, 9, 10 and possibly 11 are happening in the so-called Two Thirds World. I think that this is where the keys to the future of our planet can be found. Please keep checking the website www.ipcon.org for new information that will be uploaded from time to time. IPC9 Secretariat; The RESCOPE Programme (for regional schools and colleges)
P.O. Box 32280, Blantyre, Malawi;
Tel: +2651 831 373; Email:
rescope@sdnp.org.mw;
zipscope@yahoo.co.uk and
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2010 All rights reserved
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