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  • From: Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Permaculture for Resiliency in International Development through USAID by Warren Brush
  • Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2015 10:58:47 -0700

Permaculture for Resiliency in International Development through USAID
Posted April 20, 2015 by Warren Brush & filed under Community, Community
Projects, Education, Permaculture Projects.

http://permaculturenews.org/2015/04/20/permaculture-for-resiliency-in-international-development-through-usaid/


By Warren Brush of Quail Springs Permaculture and Casitas Valley Farm and
Creamery

With rapidly changing climactic and social conditions, we are witnessing
instability in many human support systems around the world. Systems that are
heavily dependent on centralized infrastructure and globalization for their
basic needs of shelter, water, energy and food are the most susceptible to
shocks and eventual collapse. Good science along with social and economic
feedback tell us that there is a interdependent relationship between how far
a resource is from our direct stewardship and how resilient and stable our
system will be.




Nearly everywhere I go in the world these days teaching agroecology
principles using the permaculture design platform, I have witnessed an
increase in ecological erosion that is closely followed by phenomena of
cultural and social erosion. This is due, in large part, to reductionist
practices and subsequent degradation of our local ecologies for monocrop
agriculture, export pastoralism, and the intensive creation of economies that
establish dependencies on global markets. With this form of simplified and
extractive agricultural systems, it is clear that it has been set up for an
export economy and is likely feeding local communities very little, whilst
exporting and thus losing local nutrients, water, and human and financial
resources.

In this biosocial erosion syndrome that has circled the globe, we are bearing
witness to loss of resiliency in the ecological systems that sustain us. This
is seen most significantly with massive soil erosion and hydrological
collapse, ubiquitous to most westernized areas. Lack of healthy living soils
and stable water has lead to loss of biodiversity, nutritional deficiencies
in plants, animals and humans, system shocks from extreme weather changes,
pest and disease migration, the rise of cancers and other diseases linked to
pollution, and all of the linked economic disparities and instabilities. The
loss of resiliency created by this scenario will lead, unequivocally, to
ecological and thus sociological collapse.




Looking into the food forest and intercropped staple crops at the orphanage
outside of Nairobi, Kenya

Much of my work over the past years has been focused on creating resiliency
and stability in smallholder farming systems in communities in Africa,
Europe, North America, Middle East and in Australia. Teaching, consulting,
and being a part of developing permaculture demonstration sites globally has
lead me to work with a dynamic team to creatively weave permaculture further
into the formal international development sector through USAID.

In January of 2015, a bridge was made between the permaculture and
agroecology movements and the US government, through USAID and their Food for
Peace program. An eclectic and innovative team of presenters was asked to
share best practices in resilient agricultural system design with project
directors from the Sub Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America
bureaus. This team included Steve Gliessman, the UC Santa Cruz professor who
wrote the textbook on agroecology; Brad Lancaster of “Rainwater Harvesting
for Drylands” fame; Ben Falk who recently authored the book, “ The Resilient
Farm and Homestead”; Steve Moore of Elon University, Daphne Miller of UC San
Francisco, Rose Cohen of the Community Agroecology Network, and myself.

The symposium was set up in part by Tom Cole, a permaculture practitioner and
co-developer of the Permagarden System that is now a part of USAID standard
protocols in much of Africa. For many years Tom has been creating the
conditions for permaculture to germinate and become integrated into this
large organization that affects millions of people worldwide. Another key
player in setting up the symposium was Greg Scarborough, Senior Advisor on
Food Security and Nutrition for Mercy Corps, and a permaculture practitioner
who took a course with us at Quail Springs Permaculture several years ago.

The invitees to this momentous event included project managers from USAID,
Care, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, Heifer International, World Vision, and
other organizations that collectively funnel hundreds of millions of dollars
into the two-thirds world to aid in subsistence and small-holder farming
development. They came to the symposium in hopes of gaining insights on how
to adjust their projects to empower greater levels of self-reliance,
increased ecosystem health, and less dependence on off-site resources such as
the continual imports of fertilizer, pesticides and much else from western
countries that have been commonplace in aid for decades. There is a
significant leverage potential for major impact here as any holistic
solutions broadly implemented through these institutions can reach the
recipients these organizations serve, amounting to millions of households in
more than a hundred countries.

The feedback from the participants and conveners of the symposium was notably
filled with excitement, support, and the desire to integrate permaculture
design methodologies into their projects. The positive reception has quickly
led to the development of a permaculture/agroecology field training course
that Tom Cole, myself, and others are currently designing and will begin to
deliver through the USAID TOPS (Technical Operations Performance Support)
program to technical field staff and managers worldwide over the coming year.

Quail Springs Permaculture, in the mountains of Southern California, is also
offering a full two-week Permaculture Design Course for people working in
International Development this coming May 30 to June 13, 2015. This course is
designed for people who work with Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s),
Government Organizations, or are Community Organizers.

This program equips people working in international development and
grassroots projects with the perspectives and skills needed to partner with
communities on the design of small-holder farms, land with household
agricultural production, and community systems that are holistic,
appropriate, strategic, effective, diverse, as well as ecologically and
economically sound.

This course offering will be facilitated by a team of world renowned teachers
and practitioners of regenerative systems design including: Pandora Thomas,
Tom Cole, Peter Ash, Steve Gliessman, Greg Scarborough, Jeanette Acosta,
Rafter Sass Ferguson, and myself. To find out more information or to
register, visit their website at:
http://www.quailsprings.org/permaculture-design-course-for-international-development/
write info@quailsprings.org or call 805-886-7239.

Another training happening this summer with Warren Brush is the Permaculture
Design Course and Farm Apprenticeship happening at Casitas Valley Farm near
to Carpinteria, California. This intensive and holistic approach to training
will delve deep into how to design and create regenerative systems for varied
landscapes, ecological conditions, socio-cultural environments and economic
viability. Dates: July 5 to August 2nd, 2015. Website:
http://www.casitasvalley.com/#!courses/c144e or email
ana@regenerativeearth.com or call us at 805-649-8179

Warren Brush is a mentor, storyteller, educator, and a certified Permaculture
designer and teacher. He has worked for over 25 years in inspiring people of
all ages to discover, nurture and express their inherent gifts while living
in a sustainable manner. He is co-founder of Quail Springs
PermacultureRegenerative Earth Enterprises, Sustainable Vocations, Wilderness
Youth Project, Casitas Valley Farm and Creamery and his Permaculture design
company, True Nature Design. He works extensively in Permaculture education
and sustainable systems design and implementation in North America, Africa,
Middle East, Europe, and Australia. He has taught the following courses:
Permaculture Design Certification, Resilient Small Farm Design, Permaculture
for International Development, Rainwater Harvesting Systems, Ferro-Cement
Tank Building, Spring Rejuvenation and Watershed Restoration, Compost Toilet
Systems, Water for Every Farm, Drought Proofing Landscapes, Ecological
Restoration, Cultural Mentoring, Introduction to Permaculture Systems,
Permaculture Gardening, Food Forestry, and Origins Skills among other
offerings. He can be reached through email at warrenbrush@mac.com or by
calling his offices at 805-649-8179.

Websites:

www.quailsprings.org

www.permaculturedesign.us

www.casitasvalley.com


  • [permaculture] Permaculture for Resiliency in International Development through USAID by Warren Brush, Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, 04/26/2015

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