Dear all
The proceedings of the 9th International Permaculture Conference
and Convergence (IPC9) are now on the website:
http://www.ipcon.org. Many thanks to
Wesley Roe, Margie Bushman, John Calvert, Mada Siebert and to all
presenters and to all those who assisted in the process of
realizing this achievement. Enjoy the updated
site.
Best regards
Mugove Walter Nyika
IPC9 Coordinator
Report is being sent out to all IPC9 Presenters and
Attendees
PS IF you have any reports/stories of the IPC9 you would like to
share to be posted on the IPC9 Blog please contact Wesley Roe
wes@sbpermaculture.org
Report on
the 9th International Permaculture Conference and
Convergence (IPC9)
Introduction
The International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC) is a
biennial global but grassroots gathering that has taken place in
Africa this year for the very first time. The 9th IPC was a series of
four events that took place in Southern Africa from the 18th of
October to the 30th of November 2009 and were coordinated by the
Rescope Programme from the warm heart of Africa, Malawi. IPC8 happened
in Brazil in 2007 and IPC10 will take place in Jordan in 2011. The
year in between the respective IPCs is left for regional convergences
and conferences to take place. The four events that made up IPC9 were
the International Permaculture Design Certificate (IPDC) course that
took place in Zimbabwe in the last two weeks of October, the IPC9
Convergence that took place from the 2nd to the 5th of November in
Malawi, the IPC9 Conference that was held on the 6th of November in
Malawi and finally the IPC9 Site Tours that happened in Malawi, Zambia
and Zimbabwe in the last three weeks of November 2009. A brief report
on each of the four events that made up IPC9 is given below with
indications of where to get more information. Additional information
is on the website
www.ipcon.org
.
IPC9 IPDC
The IPC9 International Permaculture Design Certificate course was
hosted by Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe from the
18th to the 29th of October 2009. 37 participants from 19 countries
attended the two week course that was taught by an international team
comprising of Joel Glanzberg of the United States, John Nzira of South
Africa and Kudzanai Lewis Mashingaidze of Zimbabwe. The course was a
key part of the process to define a Permaculture Curriculum for
Africa. Feedback from many of the participants contained glowing
praise for the spirit at the course many of whose graduates went on to
attend the Convergence and Conference in Malawi.
The graduation ceremony for the course was officiated by the Minister
of Environment and Natural Resources Management in the Government of
Zimbabwe, Honourable Francis Nhema, who made an impassioned plea
for a return to all things natural. A video of his inspirational
closing speech is available from Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre and
attempts will be made to get it onto the conference website. Further
information about the IPC9 IPDC is available from the Director of
Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre, P.O. Box CY 301, Causeway, Harare,
Zimbabwe or email Kudzanai Lewis Mashingaidze at fambidza@yahoo.com or klmashie@yahoo.com .
IPC9 Convergence
The IPC9 Convergence took place from the 2nd to the 5th of November at
Kumbali Lodge in Lilongwe, Malawi. 170 participants from all five
continents converged in Lilongwe and spend the first two days of the
Convergence learning from each other under the theme Designing
solutions for a sustainable future. The sub themes were Plan Africa -
Food and Empowerment, Education and Training; Green Economics, Health,
Gender and Climatic Change.
The outcomes of the thematic discussions at the Convergence include
the following:
A
commitment by many participants to take the Plan Africa initiative
forward. Data collection for the initiative started at the Convergence
and the main aim is to give the ecologically sustainable thrust in
Africa a major push.
The
development of a curriculum for training in Permaculture in Africa.
The development of the African Permaculture Institute received support
and was felt to be overdue.
The
potential role of Permaculture as an effective tool for addressing
many of the global challenges ranging from Climatic change to HIV and
AIDS was highlighted in many of the deliberations
The third and fourth days were organised using open space technology
to allow the participants to follow their energies to work on issues
of their choice. The outcomes of these discussions will soon be
available on the web site and the main proceedings of the convergence
were made available to the participants on CD. Key people to contact
about the open space deliberations are John Wilson at
spiritvaults@yahoo.co.uk and Mada Siebert at madalief@googlemail.com . Wesly Roe and Margie Bushman
are working to have the information from the convergence uploaded onto
the web site. They can be reached at lakinroe@silcom.net and
margie@sbpermaculture.org respectively.
IPC9 Conference
The IPC9 Conference happened on Friday the 6th of November again at
Kumbali in Lilongwe, Malawi. More than 300 participants attended the
conference which brought together famers, government officials,
teachers, children, extension and development workers among other
stakeholders. The Permanent Secretary for Nutrition and HIV and
AIDS in the Office of the President and Cabinet for Malawi, Dr. Mary
Shawa officially opened the conference. In her speech, Dr Shawa
expressed support for Permaculture which she said was a useful tool
for achieving human well being.
The speakers at the conference included Dr Terry Leah from Newcastle
University in Australia, Nicholas Heinamann and John Nzira from South
Africa and a drama performance on the promise of Permaculture capped
the proceedings. An appearance by Bill Mollison live on the screen via
satellite link was very special. The conference also included a
variety of informative displays put up by participants from all over
the world.
IPC9 Site Tours
The tour started in Lilongwe on the 7th of November with 17
participants and ended in Harare, Zimbabwe on the 30th of November
with 9 participants. Transport was by an overland truck owned and
driven by Andy Kibby and some of the food was very ably prepared by
Kingston Zimbiru. The following are the sites visited in their
chronological order:
The
Green Home of Pastor and Mrs Joseph Chawawa in Mchenzi location,
Lilongwe, Malawi. Visited in the morning of 7 November and guided by
Mrs Chawawa. Impressive and inspiring. Email
raofgodministry@yahoo.co.uk ; telephone +265 999 371 627.
The
Never Ending Food home of the Nordins in Chitedze, Lilongwe. Visited
in the afternoon of November 7 and hosted by Stacia and Kristof
Nordin. Very educative. www.NeverEndingFood.org ;
NordinMalawi@gmail.com
Luwawa Forest Lodge, 250 km north of Lilongwe. Visited in the
afternoon of the 8th November. Hosted by George and James Wardlow.
Lovely environment.
www.luwawalodgemalawi.com ;
luwawa@malawi.net
Karonga schools. Visited 3 of 24 schools in the morning of the
10th. Hosted by Dennis, Kenneth and Leiza. Very good work, motivated
teachers. +265 995 660 843 (Kenneth's mobile number).
Karonga museum. Visited in the afternoon of the 10th. Very
interesting and informative. Hosted by Harrison Simfukwe. +265 888 861
014
Chilala primary school, Chintheche area, Nkhata bay district.
Visited in the morning of the 12th. Hosted by Caroline Wilkins. Small
school but has done good work. sofsand@africa-online.net
Mua
Mission, Lake shore road, Visited in the afternoon of the 13th. Very
interesting Chewa, Ngoni and Yao culture museum
Thanthwe, Monkey Bay, Mangochi District. Toured in the morning
of the 14th. Hosted by June Walker. Very nice place.
jwthanthwe@googlemail.com
Mangochi Orphanage Education and Training (MOET), Mangochi
district. Visited in the morning of the 14th and hosted by Patterson
Majonanga. Wins the title of the most improved place.
moetmwcharity@yahoo.co.uk
Sun and sand resort no till garden, Mangochi district. Visited
in the afternoon of the 14th Hosted by Samuel Baruti. Good garden and
camels. Contact June Walker.
Pa
Nthunzi garden, Blantyre. Visited on the 15th in the evening. Hosted
by Chris Walker. Site for Rescope office. A great place to work
at.
panthunzi@africa-online.net
Thunga and Nkaombe primary schools and Thunga Teacher
Development Centre, Thylo district, Malawi. Visited in the morning of
the 16th. Hosted by Chris Walker. Good work done including community
outreach which was not visited.
South Luangwa National Park, Eastern Province of Zambia.
Visited in the afternoon of the 17th and morning of the 18th.
Excellent views of Leopards, elephants, giraffe etc.
Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre, Lusaka, Zambia. Visited
on the afternoon of the 19th. Hosted by Bridget Oconnor and Doreen
Mudenda. Permaculture production trial plot and lots of other
work.
bridgetoconnor8@gmail.com
Mr
and Mrs Scott's farm, Kafue, Zambia. Visited in the morning of the
20th. Hosted by Sebastian Scott and his wife. A newly developing
farm.
sebtree@hotmail.com
Mosi
a tunya, Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Visited on
the 21st and 22nd . Thee first of the two World Heritage Sites
included on the tour. A wonderful site enjoyed by angels in
flight.
Africa Centre for Holistic Management, Victoria Falls,
Zimbabwe. Visited on the 22nd in the afternoon. Hosted by Sunny Moyo
and team. An inspiring place for grazing area management.
Mr.
and Mrs. Ngwenya's homestead, Siphezini communal lands, just outside
Bulawayo, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. Visited in the morning of the
24th. Hosted by Mr Ngwenya. An excellent collection of xerophytes.
+263912129512.
The
Great Zimbabwe Monuments, Masvingo. Visited on the afternoon of the
24th. A historical wonder.
Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organization (TSURO),
Chimanimani district, Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. Visited on the
25th and 26th. Hosted by Ulli Westermann, Johannes Mufakose and Alias
Mlambo. Great work in progress. ulliwe@mweb.co.zw
Chikukwa Ecological Land Use Community Trust, Chimanimani
district. Visited on the 26th and 27th. Hosted by Mai Idah, Baba
va Mercy, Chester Chituwu and team. The most extensive Permaculture
community visited. Very inspirational. celuct@zol.co.zw
Kufunda Village, Harare. Visited on the 28th and 29th. Hosted
by Loraine, Allan and team. The best learning centre visited. Very
inspiring.
www.kufunda.org
.
Lorraine@kufunda.org
;
jackie@kufunda,org
;
allan@kufunda.org
Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre, Mt Hampden, Harare. Visited
in the afternoon of the 29th. Hosted by Monica. The place where it all
began way back in 1988. Fambidza@yahoo.com ;
klmashie@yahoo.com
Photographs and video clips of the sites visited are available from
the participants and some will be up loaded onto the web site. The
site tour programme and list of participants are in a separate
document attached. For further information about schools Permaculture
programmes in eastern and southern Africa visit the website for the
Rescope Programme:
www.seedingschools.org .
IPC 10
Bids to host the 10th International Permaculture Conference and
Convergence (IPC10) in 2011 were received from Cuba, Jordan and Nepal.
The International Support Group facilitated a transparent process to
select the host for IPC10 during the Convergence. The selection
criteria were presented and several meetings were held. Nepal
eventually withdrew their bid and in the end Jordan emerged as the
host for IPC10 as the Cubans were not present to defend their quite
popular bid. Congratulations to Jordan and better luck for 2011
for Cuba and Nepal.
Some learning points
Permaculture in Africa is about putting food on the table. It
is also about livelihoods and health and everything in between.
Permaculture design in Africa focuses on water and a lot more
needs to be done in this area.
Design for local self sufficiency in energy is also
important.
The future is here and it is in school now and one of the best
things that we can do for the future is to equip the younger
generations with land-use design skills and to empower them with an
appropriate mind set.
Africa is rich and has the potential to lead the world out of
this mess. The barrier between Africa and prosperity is in the minds
of its people. Education is therefore key in moving forward and the
more home grown this can be the better. I believe that this scenario
is also relevant to many other parts of the world.
Conclusions
IPC9 was a momentous occasion for Malawi, Africa, and indeed the
world. The energy that ran through the events was amazing and to think
that this was put together by volunteers operating on a zero budget
until the last few weeks prior to the events was incredible. IPC9 was
another lesson that showed us that anything is possible with
determination and that small is not only beautiful but it can also be
powerful. What matters are the inter connections between the small
elements and you have a resilient system. The Conference and
Convergence gave recognition to the work done by June Walker, among
others, in promoting Permaculture in Malawi and across the world.
Finally, it is no coincidence that IPC8, 9, 10 and possibly 11 are
happening in the two thirds world. I think that this is where the keys
to the future of our planet can be found. Please keep checking the
website www.ipcon.org for new information that will be uploaded from
time to time.
IPC9 Secretariat
The Rescope Programme
P.O. Box 32280
Blantyre, Malawi
Tel: +2651 831 373
Fax: +2651 831 363
Mobile: +265 999 788 373
Email:
rescope@sdnp.org.mw
;
zipscope@yahoo.co.uk
Website:
www.seedingschools.org
Compiled by Mugove
Walter Nyika, Blantyre, Malawi. December 4, 2009.