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

coupled with inadequate fencing, were cited as the main reason why participants in Monkey Bay
could not practice Permaculture. No participant from Monkey Bay, however, had a goat proof
fence despite the presence of goat-proof thorn fences in the area. When the issue was pressed in
the focus group discussion, a rift between the adopters (2) and remaining non-adopters resulting
in an admission that the goats, while annoying, are not a true barrier to Permaculture adoption as
the materials to build fences are available and are free. The true barrier, the participants said, is
that they are “lazy”. The highest of Monkey Bay adopters denied this claim and believes that
because they are a fishing community that agriculture and agricultural improvements comes
second to fishing and therefore does not receive much attention.
Many participants indicated using reactive pest control measures such as removing snails
by hand, collecting and killing army worms, gathering and eating grasshoppers, and applying
ashes to the garden once a problem has presented itself. Only 2 participants, the highest of all
adopters, indicated using the guild system of planting. Both high adopters cited the advantages
of intercropping in preventing insect damage as just one reason for using the guild method.
There are several practices that only adopters employ, including the zone system and
guild system, which are specific to Permaculture. Both the guild and zones systems are used
solely by the two participants with the highest adoption scores. The following practices are
employed only by adopters:
• irrigation for year-round harvesting,
• mulching
• reduced tillage
• zero use of fertilizer
• compost making
• turning stovers into soil
• consumption of 6 food groups everyday
• production of 6 food groups
• production of 5 groups, with a protein source
• permanent production areas
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