By Felix Leibelt
Donations gifted to the Permafund are distributed to organisations with projects in Australia and overseas through a carefully assessed grant application process.
Whether a single contribution, a regular tithe, a fundraising Open Garden on International Permaculture Day or the proceeds of a permaculture group’s guest speaker event, the combined efforts by all Permafund supporters has led to a string of successful environment restoration and community resilience projects over the years.
Permaculture Australia has supported more than 73 environmental and permaculture education projects in Australia and 16 other countries through grants from its Permaculture International Public Fund otherwise known as the Permafund.
Progress reports and outcomes reports are being received now from the organisations who received grants from the 2023 grant round.
For example, in Ghana the staff of Earthcare Permaculture Foundation worked with their community to ensure that 230 tree seedlings were carefully planted, mulched and wateried to give the trees the best chance for success. 200 coconuts, 10 citrus, 10 guavas and 10 teak trees were planted. The tree plantings were held in three places, E.P Basic School, Longborizu Basic school and The EarthCare Permaculture Centre. Due to high inflation the project plan was adjusted as fewer seedlings than originally planned were purchased as the cost per seedling had doubled.
Farming and Health Education (FHE) located in the Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya utilised their 2023 Permafund grant to conduct a free Permaculture Design Course for residents of the camp where permaculture skills are making a practical impact.
The Kitgum Permaculture Practitioners Association of Uganda achieved their training objectives to equip young people, deaf community members, single mothers, school staff & disadvantaged students with practical permaculture training, syntropic agro-forestry knowledge and best practices.
At the end of the training each participant received two fruit tree seedlings and windbreak trees to kick start their syntrophic regenerative dream.
The Rafiki Community-Based Organisation located in Viwandani, a densely populated urban area of Nairobi, Kenya applied for a grant to empower and educate their communities in urban farming techniques to boost food production and mitigate and adapt to climate change. The Program Coordinator has reported that the current status of the Rafiki Urban Farming program is highly encouraging. “The program has not only succeeded in establishing a substantial number of urban farms but has also achieved several notable accomplishments. Firstly, the program has significantly increased access to fresh and nutritious produce for the community members, with a diverse range of crops, and herbs being cultivated. This has positively impacted food security and improved the overall health and well-being of the residents, particularly vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly.
Also, the program has empowered community members by providing valuable knowledge and skills in permaculture and sustainable farming practices. This has led to increased self-reliance, as farmers can now grow their food, make their compost, and reduce reliance on external sources.
Additionally, the program has created income-generating opportunities through surplus produce sales, contributing to poverty alleviation and economic empowerment within the community.”
The Union of Women for Rural and Community Development UFEDERCO from the Democratic Republic of Congo sent through a photo of their group who are working on their project to Instal a permaculture vegetable garden in their school to fight the malnutrition found in the children in
village of Sange in the Ulvira territory. The organisation’s activities include:
- support for cooperatives and grassroots organisations in agro-pastoral and craft activities to help empower women:
- protection of vulnerable groups (including vulnerable children, child victims of conflict, widowed women, raped women and other vulnerable women in the community);
- the reconciliation and recovery community, for example peace-building, inter-ethnic reconciliation and participation strengthening;
- food security, education and protection of the environment and children.
On behalf of these grant recipients a big thank you to all contributors to Permaculture Australia’s Permafund.
For any information about the Permafund, to make a donation and to share fundraising and funding ideas please contact permafund@permacultureaustralia.org.au.
Donate to: