A F2F Beneficiary from Guyana on the Importance of Permaculture

 

The Permaculture-Sahakari and Organic Gardeners Group is a network of permaculture and organic gardening and farming enthusiasts from Guyana. It comprises a lose membership of 82 gardeners and farmers. The organization began in June 2019 through a WhatsApp group that they use to share knowledge and resources, and to advertise and market organic produce and inputs. Permaculture is an increasingly important priority for smallholder farmers in Guyana, as it focuses on the interrelationships and sustainability of natural ecosystems. It includes the principles of organic farming, agroforestry, integrated farming, sustainable development, and applied ecology.

Although two members of the Permaculture-Sahakari and Organic Gardeners Group have been trained in permaculture, in general the group does not have the experience nor technical capacity to design their farms in keeping with the principles of permaculture. Therefore, they requested a F2F volunteer to train members of the group on permaculture farm design. The chosen volunteer was Kelda Lorax, a permaculture expert and teacher at Oregon State University, who arranged for some of the group members to register as scholarship students for the Permaculture Design Certificate that is provided by that University online. For several months Kelda virtually mentored the students to help them receive the certification by supporting them with their assignments in the course and working on their design portfolio.

Randinda Kirton, one of the group members who received a scholarship, shared with us this message:

“I would like to express my gratitude to the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer program for the continued support and assistance they are affording the Sahakari Permaculture Group in Guyana. As a recipient of a scholarship and successful graduate of the Oregon State University Permaculture Design Certificate Course, I am indeed grateful for your initiatives in support of activities that aim to create communities that work toward a greener and more sustainable manner of existing on the planet.

By affording individuals like myself educational opportunities like this Permaculture Design Training, USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program is exercising one of the greatest tools at their disposal to combat climate change: educating citizens of the world not only on how to choose differently for themselves but how to become advocates and examples of this cause. Using the techniques and technologies taught in the permaculture course allows us to interact with our planet in a mutualistic relationship where people and the wider environment both benefit, moving us in a direction of slowing the rapid rate of climate change whilst securing food resiliency.

The current food supply chain is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas production. The principles and techniques imparted on the Permaculture Design Course provided us with the knowledge to play our part and make informed practical decisions to reduce emissions, while also working to create a carbon positive footprint by making different life choices that ultimately increase our standard of living whilst reducing our expenditures and our consumption of non-renewable resources.

My biggest takeaways from the course were that by creating a Permanent culture we build resilient food systems and communities in harmony with our natural ecosystems, which serve to raise the standard of living of rural economies whilst expanding the culture to urban dwellers. This was observed in examples from around the world, like the Laos Plateau, parts of India, and the Middle East, where whole communities used these approaches to regenerate devastated and degraded landscapes. These locations served as very potent examples of what is possible and of the need to sensitize our communities to the fact that earth care equates to people care, and that this approach can create abundant and diverse yields to both sustain us and leave a planet intact and productive for future generations to come.

This certification course was a fast-paced, far-reaching learning experience that I am indeed grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in, and I look forward to putting these new skills fully into practice.”