Green Revolution

Among the dusty roads and rusted dwellings of Gauteng townships, a quiet revolution is sprouting in the soil of permaculture gardens. From Tembisa to Soshanguve, local residents are learning to grow their own greens, for their sustenance and to generate income. It may seem like simple farming, but it is a form of "green empowerment" that has widespread potential for sustainable development in South Africa. Permaculture is an integrated design system for food production and holistic living that combines knowledge from indigenous agriculture and modern ecology.

Permaculture organisations offer specific strategies to create sustainable living conditions in poor areas. Food and Trees for Africa provides training and support to school garden projects. It also runs Eduplant, a national permaculture competition for schools, in which more than 300 schools participated this winter to show off their food gardens. Many schools supplement the dietary needs of vulnerable children with locally grown fruit and vegetables and some generate revenue by selling produce to the local community.

In addition to creating a national culture of environmental awareness, scholars are given skills to help them become self-sufficient. "Many of our students cannot find employment once they are outside the school. That is why it is necessary for our students to learn to farm," says Jacob Sesele, a teacher at the Zodwa Special School outside Pretoria.

The permaculture approach includes renewable energy use and natural building techniques as well, but these aspects have not yet been implemented on a large scale. Some permaculture organisations specialise in the use of nutritional and herbal supplementation strategies for HIV/Aids-infected people. Their aim is not to replace antiretroviral medicine with nutrition, but to teach those living with HIV/Aids to provide their own food and grow immune-boosting indigenous herbs."For people living with HIV and people who already have Aids, healthy nutrition helps to improve the response to ARVs and other treatment programmes," writes

Thaba Xingwana, the author of Taste for Life. This book is printed and distributed for free by permaculture organisation Medicinal and Edible Gardens Association. Permaculture grassroots organisations are found in several parts of Africa, most notably in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana. The projects implemented by these types of organisations show exceptional promise for alleviating poverty and environmental pollution, as well as creating profit-generating enterprises.As a sustainable development social movement, however, they are just starting to gain momentum. "People appreciate learning permaculture methods. We take them back to our roots. We shift to traditional applications," says Joe Matimba, a permaculture project manager.

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