Global Transformation Project

Practical Permaculture Institute of Zanzibar

What is Permaculture?

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• Permaculture is a cultural system that is based on the observation of nature and integration of principles of nature to create a self-sufficient and self- abundant systems ( P3 Permaculture, youtube)

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• The term permaculture was coined by David Holmgren, and his professor, Bill Mollison, in 1978. Perma stands for permanent or sustainable while culture refers to a larger concept other than agriculture.

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• Permaculture focuses on forming a partnership with nature rather than harming it e.g fertilizers hurts animals.

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• Permaculture is used to design not only food production systems, but water-harvesting systems, appropriate building design, waste and nutrient-cycling systems etc.

Permaculture encompasses three main principles.

• care of the earth
• care of the people
• return of surplus

Permaculture In Action

• Permaculture works in harmony with nature.

“Spice Island”

• Zanzibar is world renowned for their rich soil and quality herbs

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• During the transatlantic slave trade, Europe planted herbs & spices found in the new worlds in Zanzibar for easy access during trade, dubbing Zanzibar “Spice Island”.

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• Quality herbs and rich soil make Zanzibar a prime permaculture site.

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• Quality herbs are used for their medicinal properties in Zanzibar

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Herbal Healthcare For Students

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Herbalism Curriculum

• This project seeks to counter and mitigate the effects of socio-economic inequalities in Zanzibar by creating an herbalism curriculum to teach local students, as well as provide free herbal health care for primary and secondary school students.

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Why Herbal Healthcare and Curriculum?

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• Socio-economic imbalance in healthcare
• Hospitals far distances
• Many con-herbalists deceiving the public
• Lack of free healthcare system negatively affects the quality of poor students’ education.

• 52% of children sick 2 weeks before survey (median duration 3 days)
• 41% Sought any form of care
• 26% Wealthier families knew <2 danger signs
• 20% of most poor knew = or >2
• The rate of hospital admissions in the lowest socioeconomic status quintile was almost half that of the highest
• Carers' knowledge of which signs were dangerous was poor in all groups, but improved slightly with higher socioeconomic status.

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(Schellenberg)

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Mortality,

Healthcare,

and Childhood

Economic Conditions

• Negative economic conditions early in life plays a role on individual mortality rates at all ages.
• Moreover, our results are confirmed by recent studies of the effects of observed individual socioeconomic conditions on such health outcomes as illness indicators later in life. These studies point toward childhood conditions as crucial determinants of health later in life.

(Case et al., 2005)

Practical Permaculture Institute of Zanzibar

• Located in Shakani Unguja island, Zanzibar.
• Founded in 2015 by Nickels and Franko Goeshe.
• The purpose/ vision of PPI Zanzibar is to “.... train as many locals starting with primary school teachers … [on the necessary knowledge in ] permaculture to build and maintain a happy, healthy way of life centered around nature” (purpose statement).
• Our project aims to improve the existing Permaculture School Garden Program (PSGP).
• The PSGP is centered on the creation of an edible garden that provides food and educates students on sustainable living.
• Our goal is to incorporate a herbalism curriculum in addition to the garden, provide free healthcare through the creation of herbal garden.
• Our goal is to further the herbal curriculum and the free healthcare to a surrounding twenty (20) schools. Starting with the three schools PSGP have been implemented — Dimani, Kombeni and Kisauni.

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History & Description

• The Practical Permaculture Institute (PPI) originally started in Kenya and was established by Michael Nickels after he noticed the erosion and deforestation of the land in 1990.
• In 2015, Nickels and Franko Goeshe introduced the PPI in Tanzania (Zanzibar) as a means to dispense knowledge on food security, sustainability and agricultural ecosytems — permaculture.
• The Permaculture Institute of Zanzibar is a school located in Shakani Unguja island, Zanzibar. The core existence of the institute is to dissipate information on permaculture by training farmers, primary school teachers, gardeners and outside community etc.
• The Permaculture Institute of Zanzibar is twenty-five (25) minutes from stone town and occupies 5 acres of land. This five acres of land contain “organic vegetable gardens, swales, grey water management systems, composting toilets, food forests, rocket stoves, solar power, nursery”.

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Dr. Said Matahabashy Teaches Herbalism

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bqi4ITespF8DQUq5-vRf2soZis1j1SpZ/view

Conveniently located near Zanzibar Schools

Goals

Short Term Goals

• Create curriculum

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• Fully implement curriculum and healthcare in three schools (Dimani, Kombeni and Kisauni )

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• Recruit & retain herbalists to treat students

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Long Term Goals

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• Bring Rutgers Students to learn about permaculture, and create a sustainable permaculture site to build resources for our Herbal Healthcare initiative.

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• Teach herbalism curriculum and offer healthcare to all 20 Schools in Zanzibar by 2022

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Challenges

• Resources (Number of crops)

Resources could be depleted while tending to youth healthcare needs

• Time

Permaculture sites can take years to balance themselves

• Tending to all Students Healthcare Needs

Retaining and paying certified Herbalists for high volume of students

• Gaining the trust of parents to treat students

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Solutions to Challenges

• Resources

It would be fundamental to create additional permaculture sites solely for the healthcare needs of students. (School property)

• Tending to High Volume Healthcare Needs

Focus on smaller number of schools before growing enough to sustain the healthcare needs of all ten schools. Also, obtain grants for financing.

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Budget

• Vehicle
• Herbalist Salary $167
• Teachers’ training
• Curriculum materials
• Herbalism equipment
• Treatment equipment (gauze, band-aid, herbalist medical equipment)
• PPI Course for students

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$10,000

Investors

• Last year Lush donated over £1.6 million to small charities, campaigns and organisations working in the areas of environment, animal protection and human rights.

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• Lift The Children Foundation

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• Fumba Town, Zanzibar

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• CPS Live Ltd.

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• European Permaculture Network - EUPN is a mutual aid network of organisations that help each other in a non-hierarchical way.
• Growing Together is a partnership initiative of community and environmental sector organizations that will unlock income, land and skills for community growing groups for them to become financially self-sustaining.

Grants

The Mérieux Foundation grant

Tackles health issues in impoverished countries.

German Embassy in Arusha

Micro-projects aim to relieve intermittent emergency situations of the population and take into account the basic needs of the poorest of the population.

Irish Aid Mirco-Project Scheme & RESCOPE Program

To support the development of civil societies.

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Stakeholders

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• Primary & secondary school children being treated

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• Parents

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• Herbalists hired

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• Practical Permaculture Institute

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Connection to Rutgers

• Biology department can take students to world-renowned “spice island” to both learn about permaculture from PPI, and implement sustainable permaculture sites within needed communities in Zanzibar and beyond.
• Statement from Rutgers’s Ecology department:

“Our interdisciplinary department specializes in ecology, evolution, and natural resource conservation. We study the evolutionary origins and maintenance of biodiversity, conserving and restoring native ecosystems, and issues of global change such as managing natural resources within urban ecosystems”.

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• The ecology department could volunteer students to learn about permaculture and conduct research on the existing structures.

Asante-Sana and Thank You Very Much !!

Sources/Citations

https://allpointsdesign.ca/project/practical-permaculture-institute-of-kenya-2/

http://www.permaculture-eastafrica.com/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673603125159

http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Why-Tanzanians-turn-to-herbalists/1840340-3019718-iamwh2/index.html

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/000282806776157740

Van Den Berg, Gerard, J., Maarten Lindeboom, and France Portrait. 2006. "Economic Conditions Early in Life and Individual Mortality." American Economic Review, 96 (1): 290-302

Schellenberg, Joana. “Inequities among the Very Poor: Health Care for Children in Rural Southern Tanzania.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics, Elsevier, 15 Feb. 2003, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673603125159

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Sources/Citations

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http://paoniafarmandhome.com/tag/permaculture/

https://www.permaculturereflections.com/a-brief-introduction-to-permaculture/

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