Development Notes Edited by Dawn Berkelaar and Tim Motis October 2015 | Issue 129
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Development Notes Edited by Dawn Berkelaar and Tim Motis October 2015 | Issue 129 are offered through universities, at small Permaculture In Development: farms that have been designed around An introduction to permaculture and its application permaculture principles, and even in the backyards of urban/peri-urban permacul- in agriculture development By Brad Ward turalists. Each course includes 72 hours of instruction based on the main themes Introduction laid out in Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual by Bill Mollison (1988). Courses The word permac- can be structured many ways: intensive ulture is mentioned with courses take place over nine consecutive increasing frequency in days, weekend courses take place over speeches, books and several consecutive weekends, and online magazine articles on courses are typically nine weeks long. sustainability and food security. What is permac- Many people practice permaculture ulture? Is it a movement? without calling themselves permaculture A philosophy? Simply a designers and without having taken a set of design tools? In PDC. For example, ECHO’s Global Farm this article, I answer in Fort Myers, Florida, is an excellent the above questions by example of applied permaculture practice, looking at permaculture even though it has not been specifically from a variety of angles. designed according to permaculture First, I briefly describe principles. Many ECHO Technical Notes permaculture’s history, and articles have detailed the application Figure 1: The permaculture-designed community garden space at underlying ethics, and key of permaculture principles without using ECHO. Source: Betsy Langford. principles and common the “permaculture” label. practices. Then I discuss Rafter Ferguson, a well-regarded permac- common criticisms of permaculture and ulture researcher and practitioner, has an explain the underlying perspective that elegantly simple way to frame the many Featured in this EDN shapes its use in addressing a commu- aspects of permaculture: “Permaculture nity’s food, water and shelter needs (i.e., is meeting human needs while increasing the lens through which a permaculturalist ecosystem health” (Ferguson 2012). To 1 Permaculture In Development: views development). Finally, I share how guard against reductionism, Rafter adds An introduction to permaculture permaculture has influenced my own life a cautionary statement to his concise and its application in agriculture and work, both as a Christian and as an definition, saying, “I’m all for shorthand development agriculture development worker. definitions in the right context as long as it’s being used to communicate a 6 From ECHO’s Seed Bank: Inca nut principle rather than obscure fundamental (Plukenetia volubilis) Definitions complexity” (Ferguson 2013b). The word permaculture, coined by its My own definition of permaculture is as 7 Books, Websites and Other co-founder Bill Mollison, is formed from follows: Permaculture is a cohesive set of Resources the words “permanent” and “agriculture.” ethics, principles and practices that help The concept of permaculture is difficult to guide the stewardship of an ecosystem to 8 Upcoming Events explain in just a few words, because the ensure resilience and abundance to all its term is used to describe (usually simul- inhabitants. taneously) both a worldview/philosophy ECHO is a global Christian for living on the earth and a set of design organization that equips people principles and practices. Permaculturalists and with agricultural resources and Bill Mollison emphasized the philosophical Permaculture Designers skills to reduce hunger and aspect in his definition: “Permaculture is The permaculture movement is very open- improve the lives of the poor. a philosophy of working with, rather than source and non-centralized. A person against nature; of protracted and thoughtful wanting to call him/herself a Permacultur- ECHO observation rather than protracted and alist or Permaculture Designer is expected 17391 Durrance Road thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants to complete a Permaculture Design North Fort Myers, FL 33917 USA and animals in all their functions, rather Course (PDC) led by a teacher or group p: 239-543-3246 | f: 239-543-5317 than treating any area as a single-product of teachers with sufficient training and www.ECHOcommunity.org system” (Mollison 1988). experience to teach the course. Courses Key Figures and Primary Permaculture as a movement to the agriculture systems we develop. This often creates unnecessary failure, Source Literature Permaculture practitioners and teachers exorbitant use of natural resources, Bill Mollison (born in 1928) is considered think deeply about natural systems, and and potentially wide-spread ecological to be the father of permaculture. In 1978, especially about human interaction with damage. Large-scale monocropping Mollison collaborated with David Holmgren those systems. Because technology has is a classic example of working against to write a foundational book called Perma- increased the capacity for humans to nature. culture One. Mollison also wrote Perma- make large-scale and rapid changes to 2. The problem is the solution. If we culture: A Designers’ Manual, published entire ecosystems, permaculture practi- are willing to look at a problem from a in 1988. This 400-page book lays down tioners often find themselves on the front variety of angles, we will discover that the foundational philosophies, principles lines of a debate that pits extractive greed the “problem” is actually a resource and practices of permaculture. Mollison against the long-term health of the planet. for another part of the ecosystem. founded The Permaculture Institute in In this way, permaculture joins the larger A good example of this is Mollison’s Tasmania, and created a training system to movement of those who wish to conserve well-known statement, “You don’t train others under the umbrella of perma- natural systems and mitigate/restore the have a snail problem, you have a duck culture. damage done by decades of unbridled exploitation. Permaculture’s voice in this deficiency!” David Holmgren (born in 1955) is a movement is valuable because it offers 3. Make the least change for the co-originator of the permaculture concept positive, actionable design alternatives to greatest possible effect. Thoughtful with Mollison. Holmgren is an Australian the status quo. interventions aimed at leverage points permaculture designer, ecological educator in an ecosystem yield the greatest and writer. His 2002 book, Permaculture: Permaculture as a process returns for the time and resources Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustain- invested. An example of this principle ability, provides what many view as a more for designing human is S.A.L.T. (Sloping Agricultural Land accessible guide to the principles of perma- community and natural Technology) for hillside farming. By culture. Holmgren refined those principles ecosystems planting trees along a contour (the over more than 25 years of practice. leverage point), erosion is reduced, Using a permaculture framework, the terraces are formed, and soil fertility Two other authors whose ideas are featured design process moves through several prominently in permaculture concepts are is maintained—and possibly even levels. It begins with ethics, then moves to enhanced. P.A. Yeomans (1904-1984) and Masanobu principles, next to design strategies, and Fukuoka (1913-2008). finally to technique or application. 4. The yield of a system is theoreti- P.A. Yeomans was an Australian inventor cally unlimited. This principle might also be expressed by saying that it is known for the Keyline system, used to I. Ethics develop land and increase its fertility. only our knowledge and imagination Yeomans’ Keyline concepts are now part Permaculture, whether viewed as a that limit the sustainably productive of the curriculum of many sustainable philosophy, a movement or a design potential of an ecosystem. A perma- agriculture courses in colleges and univer- process, rests on three ethical pillars: 1) culture designer works to create sities across the world. Yeomans wrote four care for the earth; 2) care for people; and layers of symbiotic relationships in books: The Keyline Plan; The Challenge of 3) set limits to consumption and repro- an ecosystem. This concept is well- Landscape; Water for Every Farm; and The duction, and redistribute surplus (Holmgren displayed in agroforestry systems, in City Forest. 2002). Most people can agree with the first which multiple stories of species work two ethical statements, but the concepts together to protect and serve each Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese of population control and redistribution are other, increasing both the total potential farmer and philosopher. He promoted loaded with controversy. For this reason, yield and (often) the individual yield of no-till, no-herbicide grain cultivation many permaculture authors and teachers each component. Function stacking, farming methods, and created a particular have simplified/modified the third ethical another concept that illustrates this method of farming, commonly referred to as principle to “fair share” or “care for the principle, refers to choosing plants and “Natural Farming” or “Do-nothing Farming”. future.” animals in a design that perform more Fukuoka authored several Japanese books, than one function and yield more than scientific papers and other publications, one product. A flock of chickens is a most notably The One-Straw Revolution. II. Principles – Bill Mollison