Thanks to financial support from individuals, families, businesses and fundraisers, in 2023 Permaculture Australia’s Permafund funded community projects by nine organisations around the world.
The Kitgum Permaculture Practitioners’ Association in Uganda, East Africa, received a grant of AU$2,000 to offer its deaf community a permaculture design course {PDC} and syntropic agroforestry training. The objectives of the project were to equip participants with basic permaculture and syntrophic agroforestry knowledge and best practices.
Assembly of garden tools
The mix of trainees included youth, the deaf, single mothers, school dropouts, school heads and employees. The grant supported the trainers with course presentation materials, seeds and seedlings, hoes, pangas (machetes), forked hoes, spades and a wheelbarrow.
The course included an introduction to permaculture, the ethics and principles, soil science, seeds and seedlings, land preparation, mulching, planting and composting plus pest, weed and disease management.
Preparing the garden beds
The introduction to syntropic agroforestry included soil cover, stratification for maximum photosynthesis, succession and site management.
Mulching the raised beds
At the end of the training each of the 36 participants (11 female and 25 male) received two fruit or windbreak tree seedlings to kick start their syntrophic regenerative dream.
Planting seeds & seedlings
After the course the facilitator reported that 95% of the students were equipped to replicate and adopt syntropic agroforestry best practices in their community to help improve environmental conservation. They learnt the benefits of planting native and endangered tree species to restore diversity.
The vegetable, medicinal plants and tree seedlings used in the training included: spinach, Skuma wiki (collard greens), tomatoes, eggplant, field peas. Crotalaria, okra, green pepper, malakwang (roselle plant), cucumber, kale, cabbage and dodo (amaranth). Fruits included passionfruit, banana, oranges, mango, jackfruit, paw paw, cashew nut, guava and coffee. Wood & shade trees included teak, neem, pines, eucalyptus and a native hardwood. Grasses used were lemongrass and elephant grass.
Seedlings in recycled containers
Challenges for the teachers were
unavailability of a training manual and student notes
Limited funds
poor internet access and lack of data bundles for effective communication.
inadequate species of native trees
insufficient catering and accommodation facilities
unrealistic expectations from students re start-up funds for their project, training allowances and transport refunds.
Some people were vegetarian, and others could not eat the food prepared due to allergies causing extra work for support staff.
Catering by support staff
Recommendations from the organisers for the way forward
Access to training for trainers to roll out syntropic agroforestry education into the community
Incorporate permaculture and syntropic agroforestry for diversification
Extension of programs to schools and institutions where the most active age bracket and fast learners are found f or easy management and learning
Development of effective work plans and budget
Set up more community learning demonstrations to rouse interest and encourage replication
Develop an administrative unit with smart phone and laptop for easy reporting
Develop training manuals for references during and after trainings
In conclusion the training was well attended and well facilitated with both the teachers and students showing zeal and passion for the training. The time management for the course was viewed as good, including time taken to gather the training materials. The food was sufficient for breakfast, lunch and tea breaks.
The facilitator, Patrick Paul Kidega thanked Permaculture Australia’s Permafund for the opportunities provided by the funding. He also thanked the Abundant Earth Foundation for their support over the years.
He requested help in the future with train the trainer education for the most outstanding students to equip them to start practicing and sharing permaculture and syntropic agroforestry knowledge with the community of Kitgum and Uganda at large.
Donations and tithes from individuals and businesses to Permaculture Australia’s Permafund are warmly welcomed with amounts over $2.00 tax deductible in Australia.
Compost making workshop
Funds raised by community events such as Open Garden Days, social gatherings, workshops and festivals provide wonderful support for Permafund’s grant program.
Contributions to the Permafund can be made here via PayPal or direct deposit. Thanks to everyone for your support.
In their successful application to the 2023 Permafund grant round, Anam Cara House in the Australian town of Colac, Victoria, described its main purpose as “To provide the South West Victorian community with excellence in respite and end of life care within a home-like environment; embracing respect and compassion for all people.”
They explained “We operate a day hospice program, 4 days a week. There are many participants who have a life-long love of the outdoors and gardening so we often do outdoor garden activities with them.
Day respite at the hospice provides a vital break for carers and gives the participants opportunities to enjoy different activities and socialise.”
Anam Cara House described their project as “Permaculture gardening – a community and social experience for people with a chronic life limiting illness. Our aim is to develop an existing site on the hospice grounds with raised wicking garden beds for food production. The food grown will supply our kitchen for homemade meals for our guests.”
The Permafund management team has been receiving regular progress reports from the Community Liaison Nurse, Naomi Lettieri.
“Our permaculture garden project is going along well. We have planned out the space and identified the size of the raised garden beds and the required space around the beds so someone in a wheelchair can move around the space. Initially we had planned to use a different site, but after meeting and considering our best options, we are positioning the garden beds in a location closer to the hospice building.
Our respite guests and maintenance team have been consulted on the plans. We have identified what items we already have that can be recycled or repurposed for the activity to start. We have ordered our garden beds to be made by a local tradesperson, using recycled, untreated cypress timber with a food grade wicking lining.
Everyone is excited about this project and we are talking to local businesses about how they can support us with some of the components as donations, such as gravel for fill, sand and soil.
“The excavation will be done as a working bee with volunteer support. We have the site preparation well underway, the garden beds with the lining are on site. We are hopeful to be ready for spring planting.” Our Thursday day respite participants have been involved in the decision making and planning. Our maintenance team and volunteers have been assisting with the groundwork. We are excited to see the project develop to get the garden beds in place and growing food for the hospice kitchen. “
Once the new garden beds were set up Naomi reported “We are delighted to let you know that we planted out the wonderful wicking garden beds with some of our day respite participants 2 weeks ago.
The participants really enjoyed the experience, and the plants are already growing well.
It will be a great activity as time goes by as the gardens become well established.” Anam Cara House, Colac, Victoria will continue to share reports about the impact of this project.
Thanks to the build up of donations from individuals, businesses and groups throughout each year the Permafund management committee is able to regularly launch a grant round.
Applications to Permafund for funding for environmental and permaculture education projects are received from a wide variety of community organisations both in Australia and regions around the world -from the Pacific to Asia, Africa to the Americas.
Donations and tithes from individuals and businesses to Permaculture Australia’s Permafund are warmly welcomed with amounts over $2.00 tax deductible in Australia.
Funds raised by community events such as Open Garden days, social gatherings, workshops and festivals provide wonderful support for Permafund’s grant program.
Contributions to the Permafund can be made here via PayPal or direct deposit. Thanks to everyone for your support.
Do you represent a community organisation in a region recovering from the past year’s many natural disasters and catastrophic events? If so, now’s the time to consider applying for a Permafund micro grant.
Focusing on the theme of resilient communities, Permaculture Australia’s Permafund is welcoming applications for grants to support permaculture- oriented projects that are preparing your community to withstand disasters such as bushfires, food shortages, cyclones, drought, floods or disease or helping your community recover from any of these challenges.
Demonstrating how to make liquid fertilser
Soil improvement & seed distribution workshop
For example, the micro grants are available to support community projects working to install and restore food production, water harvesting and renewable energy systems, to protect and re-vegetate habitats and build community resilience.
To apply, the Application form and Grant Guidelines are available here to download as PDF and Word documents.
Please send the completed form and any supporting documents to permafund@permacultureaustralia.org.au before the closing date of Sunday 30th August 2020 ( midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time AEST).
Permaculture Australia’s Permafund plays a unique role in the worldwide permaculture community through its micro grant program that distributes donations received from individuals, businesses and fundraisers.
In 2018 the Integrated Rural Development Society (IRDS) of the Salem District, Tamil Nadu successfully applied for a Permfund micro grant to conduct training workshops for 50 tribal farmers from the Mannur, Alamarathukadu, and Poomarathupatti villages in the Kalrayan Hills.
Farmers with an interest in permaculture and new agriculture methods were identified with the help of farmer leaders before being introduced to the project’s goals and main activities.
Seed varieties shared during workshop
A series of workshops were conducted covering permaculture and organic agriculture methods to maximise return from the same land in multiple ways, the control of weeds by intercropping, making liquid fertiliser to increase micro-organisms in the soil and water harvesting to improve soil moisture.
Liquid fertiliser demonstration
Seeds and seedlings were distributed to increase the diversity of vegetable and indigenous grain crops being cultivated. The project has helped the farmers lessen their reliance on outside inputs and improve their harvests for better food security.
Intercropping increasing yields
On behalf of the tribal farmers, the IRDS team has expressed their sincere thanks to Permaculture Australia and Permafund for the partnership, cooperation and support that’s enabled the organisation to implement this important project in their community.
The activities of the Integrated Rural Development Society include raising awareness of the importance of protective, preventive health practices including providing clean drinking water and good sanitation. Other major issues addressed by the organisation are the empowerment of women, environmental protection, HIV and AIDS awareness and health development through alternate medical practices such as naturopathy and yoga practices.
Farmers working plots as small as a third of an acre have agreed to implement permaculture techniques as part of a matched grant program around Begnas Lake in Nepal.
Hillside farms overlook Begnas Lake
With the Nepal Permaculture Group they are creating a local hub for a network of farmers who are cooperating to discover and demonstrate the advantages of organic farming.
In the 2018-19 grant round Permafund helped kick off a farm improvement project with a workshop for farmers in the Kashki district.
The main objectives of the workshop were to:
introduce people involved in permaculture and similar philosophies to the network and provide a forum for sharing their expertise and experience.
identify the skills in the networks of organic food marketing in Nepal
find ways to establish an organic produce & market network in Pokhara
build a local Resource Centre to promote permaculture and related philosophies
work as a pressure group to advocate and lobby for a more sustainable society.
The farmers produce fruit, vegetables, medicinal herbs and livestock
Beekeeping adds to the mix of produce
The farmers agreed to
continue to improve their farms for at least seven years while also receiving technical and other support from the state government,
coordinate and collaborate with other farmers in their areas,
keep records on costs and benefits to help analyse the difference between a conventional & a model farm
base their work on organic and permaculture principles
to report on their farm’s progress on a quarterly basis
to establish their farms as model farms in their area with at least two farms to be utilised as local resource centres.
The support from Permafund has helped the Nepal Permaculture Group coordinate the resource centre and model farm initiative which is encouraging and empowering farmers and inspiring their communities.
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