Konso is the little area in southern Ethiopia where SFEL is based. It has suffered repeated food insecurity over the last 50 years.
Konso land is poor quality and the country is cut up by deep eroded gullies and canyons. Rain is unreliable, increasingly so in recent years. These harsh conditions have bred what some call ‘the toughest farmers in Africa’. Tough, they certainly are. And the Konso are very good farmers. “The major economic base is agriculture (80%) and 20% only is butchery, weaving, pottery, black smithery, petty local brewery trades, tannery and local carpentry.” (Korra Gara, 2008) The most notable feature of their renowned agricultural system is its terracing, constructed over large tracts of the rugged landscape by centuries of communal labour. The terraces reduce erosion and are carefully crafted to balance the competing demands of maximizing water infiltration, with allowing adequate drainage so that the terraces do not collapse in times of heavy rain.
The terraces are planted with sorghum and intercropped with a range of species; including trees, most importantly Moringa oleifera (the cabbage tree) Terminalia birowni, and Cordia Africana, grown for timber; shrubs such as pigeon pea, coffee and chat (Catha edulis) (a cash crop) and annuals including, sunflower, maize, millet, chick peas, various beans, cotton and cassava. They are fertilised with wastes from the villages, including partially burned plant residues mixed with animal dung, which acts to keep the soil fertile.
“The Konso people are more focusing on intercropping systems and agro-forestry systems because some crops are early maturing, some are drought resistant, some are much productive even if they are less drought resistant to stand against side effects of inter-cropping systems, not to miss something to eat at least.” (Korra Garra, 2008)
Despite their tough character and all their hard work, Konso is suffering increasingly these days from food insecurity and environmental degradation. The average family plot, shrinking with population growth, is now down to half a hectare. Climate change is adding to the problem. “This condition leads to the deforestation actions to get new farmlands and sell wood for gaining incomes.” (Korra Gara, 2008) Deforestation further reduces the reliability of rainfall as desertification begins to set in. The Belg rains which usually come in March failed to materialize this year, and food aid has been brought in to cover the deficit. In recent times Konso has repeatedly suffered food insecurity. The UNDP’s Rapid Assessment Report: Konso Special Wereda, SNNPR (1999) states that; “since the 1950s, drought induced famines have hit Konso and the immediate area almost once every ten years… Konso was devastated by the droughts in 1973/74 and 1983/84”.
The solution to the problems of the folk of Konso, and many other places, lies in a successfully marrying the positive elements of the traditional and the modern societies, while rejecting the negative. In Konso the traditional systems of land regulation and management appear to have begun to break down. Since Icelandic missionaries arrived in Konso in the 1950’s with the Gospel of evangelical Protestantism almost the entire population has converted to Christianity from their traditional belief system. Certain traditional systems of knowledge and societal regulation that were tied up with the old systems of belief are subsequently being lost. Konso’s traditional systems of land management are also not recognised by the modern Ethiopian state, which has claimed sole propriety over all land in Ethiopia since the socialist government of Haili Mariam Mengistu. Lack of land-tenure-security in Konso, and indeed across Ethiopia, has encouraged farmers to approach holdings with a view to a shorter term return and place less importance on long term sustainability.
Yet this little nation has already been held up as an example for others to follow. The FAO has awarded them recognition of their agricultural system as an example for farming peoples elsewhere in Ethiopia to follow, and Konso folk have been taken to other areas of the country to train locals in dry-land agriculture. Konso’s terracing is now due for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And despite all this the Konso people continue to suffer from lack of food security, poor or non-existent infrastructure, lack of sanitation and health care. Women in particular spend much of their life in toil and drudgery without any hope of a significant cash income, most being illiterate and unable even to speak Amharic, Ethiopia’s national language.
Permaculture At SFEL
In May and June 2008 SFEL hosted its first two full PDCs, the first in Konso (and possibly also the first in Ethiopia) was given voluntarily by Rosemary Morrow, author of the Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture. The two courses were attended by a total of 36 participants including experts from the Konso Office of Agriculture and Rural Development, representatives from the Konso Developmt Association and the Mekane Yesus Drought Prevention and Preparedness, Yandafaro Project, eight agricultural extensions workers from Kambata Zone, sent by KTMM, a Kambata based NGO, as well as 8 members of the Konso farming community (6 women and 2 men) and 11 foreigners from 5 different countries including countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
In November 2008 Mr Tichafa Makovere Shumba from Zimbabwe arrived at SFEL bringing with him 15 years of experience working in Permaculture in southern Africa. A veteran of the movement, he specialises in education and practising Permaculture in schools, following his long years of work with the SCOPE program in southern Africa. Tichafa is a headmaster himself! As of January 2009 he has already held 2 PDCs training 14 participants including 8 teachers. The PDC itself includes design excersizes during which the students co-operatively produce designs on pieces of land, which were done in these courses on the Konso schools. Following the training SFEL will implement a follow-up implementation, monitoring and evaluation program in the schools in partnership with locally active NGOs including Save the Children Finland and CISS, who are the funders of the initiative.
Follow up programs include:
- Establishment of nurseries and nutrition gardens on the school grounds, to produce food and act as models for demonstration and training of children in growing vegetables for their own consumption. Also sale of seedlings to the community will allow the school to generate income.
- Exchange visits and competitions between the schools to encourage a spirit of constructive competition.
- Open days to inform and demonstrate to parents about Permaculture principals and application.
- Monitoring, evaluation and reporting to the partner organisations to facilitate continued action in Permaculture.
Permaculture and its cousin Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are alternatives for Konso’s path to food security development and development of human and physical resources. It offers an appropriate bottom up and holistic approach that builds on the foundation of local indigenous knowledge, opening horizons for Konso (or African) communities to use their inherent natural and social wealth for sustainable development. As a practical solution to numerous challenges described above, it is expected to bring out the following outcomes:
- Increased awareness among Konso farmers of the alternatives to the ‘green revolution’ approach;
- Increased awareness of the strategic importance of an alternative development paradigm (to attempted mimicry of the standard western capitalist model) among the young generation and policy makers;
- Raised profile of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and the Natural Resource Management (NRM) model for endogenous development;
- Increased knowledge of appropriate technology for alternative livelihoods and reduced manual labor, such as oil pressing and food processing from own produce and solar cookers as a wood-fuel saving alternative.
Permaculture in Konso will be built on the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). For instance, elders will be used as human resource, giving the youth heritage knowledge on agriculture, natural medicines, natural foods and what brought about longevity in our forefathers, at the same taking cognizance of today’s growing population. Permaculture will also bring in guardianship of the natural environment by taking herbs which have already been researched on to be grown around homesteads, so that it would be easy to suppress ailments at home as our forefathers used to. On optimum nutrition the emphasis will be “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food” (Hippocrates in 390 BC.) The people will be given a wide knowledge on what food to take and what food not to take showing that with an adequate intake of micronutrients most chronic diseases would not exist. One example would be to look at how herbs such as lemon grass can be processed for pharmaceuticals. Aloe vera could, according to some research suppresses effects of malaria and lemon grass has many healing properties, supports healthy digestion, skin, immunity and as such an all-round tonic. Permaculture in Konso
(a) Relieve financial pressure of on the indigenous farmers’ reliance on artificial fertilizers and other non-locally available resources.
(b) Develop a culture which is owner and benefactor friendly. The independency on the use of non-locally and unaffordable resources (artificial fertilizers and other farm inputs) can easily be done by the owner and nature to eliminate external high energy dependent inputs.
(c) Use Permaculture as a self-renewing, natural and affordable resource which is less costly to the planet’s ecological systems and to the soil.
(d) Demonstrate that Permaculture is not careless neglect of the landscape.
Download SFEL project proposal on introduction of Permaculture in Konso:
INTRODUCTION OF PERMACULTURE IN KONSO SNNPRS.doc
