Permaculture, Final Capstone Paper 5-26, Hope - Never Ending Food

Table 1: Comparative
Practices
Water
Pest / Disease
Management
Trees / Agroforestry
Animal Husbandry /
Livestock Farming
Diet
Common Malawian Practice
• Water is used once and then dumped on unproductive
ground.
• Rainwater is unmanaged causing crop loss, damage to
homes and structure, and contributing to massive soil
erosion.
• When possible apply chemical pesticides and
herbicides for weed and pest control.
• If chemicals are unattainable, farmers may rely solely
on laborious reactive measures (ex. removing
caterpillars & snails by hand when the problem occurs)
• No fence or fence constructed from dead
wood/material
• Fatalistic attitude: “It is God’s will”
• Importance of trees is known, but few trees are planted.
• Trees planted or desired to plant include Gmelina or
Eucalyptus which were promoted by the colonial
government. These trees disturb agricultural
production.
• Few farmers plant fruit trees
• Firewood is collected from far away and significantly
contributes to deforestation.
If animals are kept,
• Roam freely to scavenge for food, often destroying
crops and raiding kitchen gardens
• Manure is not used on to enrich soil because it is too
difficult to collect.
• 75% of daily caloric intake is from staple crop (maize)
resulting in high rates of under-nutrition
• Monoculture cropping has led to high risk of food
insecurity because of a dependency on external inputs,
soil degradation, and high risk of crop failure. (Nordin,
2005)
Permaculture Practice
• Water is used as many times as possible (ex. After
washing dishes, water is used for irrigated a garden
bed.
• Non-toxic grey water is used for food production
where appropriate
• Rainwater is harvested and stored for future use either
in the soil or in a holding container
• Preventative measures are taken to reduce
vulnerability and susceptibility to pest and disease.
• Inclusion of strong smelling plants and mulch and use
of strong smelling water
• Encourages beneficial species
• Live fencing
• Proactive, holistic attitude: “You don’t have a snail
problem, you have a duck deficiency” (Mollison,
1997)
• Many different types of trees are planted for food
production, to increase soil fertility, and to conserve
topsoil.
• Farmers plant trees specifically for firewood and
building materials.
• Trees are used as “supporters” in the guild system
thus introducing horizontal plane of agricultural
production.
• Kept in a “khola” (pen) for easy feeding and
collecting of manure.
• Incorporated into the food production system- food is
grown for animals that, in turn, provide food for
humans.
• Proper amounts of six food groups (or five with a
protein source) are consumed on a daily basis.
• Diversified planting increased food and nutrition
security by: reducing dependence on external inputs,
better soil fertility and increased yields.
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