Eco-social resilience, by design

Because food security and environmental health go hand in hand, our goal is to build expertise in farming communities around the world about practical options for improving yields and livelihoods using ecologically regenerative approaches. permEzone is a non-profit program training and supporting family farmers in the design of sustainable food systems, and the benefits of working collaboratively to improve their local economy and environment.
Picture

Why contribute?

We provide training and support for impoverished rural communities to learn how to help themselves.
Your contribution will:
  • Help hundreds of families feed themselves with nutritious food
  • Help them increase their income from diverse crops, and reduce farm costs
  • Help us support them as they work together to find shared solutions to common problems
  • Help improve the local environment and take action to reverse climate change
Please click Donate, and help in any way you can - thank you!!

The Pilot

The permEzone pilot program is well underway, training and supporting farmers in East Africa.
Phase 1 in Asumbi village, Migori County, Kenya, was successfully completed in April 2020. This was delivered by Community Mobilisation for Regenerative Agriculture (C-MRA) and you can read their final report here.
Phase 2 with the farmers in Sanje Village, in the Central Retion of Uganda, was delivered by Broadfield Enterprises Uganda (BEU), successfully completed in April 2021.
Phase 3 with farmers in Kisa West, Kakamega County, Kenya, also being delivered by C-MRA, started in February 2021 and is due to complete in July 2023.

The pilot is a multi-year, independently monitored experiment to test and document the permEzone program, in particular:
  • Working with the existing network of regional permaculture training centers to help rural communities build their own efficient sustainable food systems.
  • Finding effective ways to share knowledge and information in isolated and resource-poor communities.
As the pilot progresses, we are starting to build on these experiences in preparation for expanding the program and building capacity to facilitate the much-needed transition to more resilient farming communities and healthy local economies.

The Vision

Permaculture projects around the world have shown that the negative impacts of modern agriculture on the environment can be reversed, and that degraded land can be turned into productive farms. permEzone is a new program working with existing centers in less-developed countries to equip local farmers with practical skills, and then support them in designing model farms.

The world’s 500 million family farmers could be a powerful force for environmental regeneration. Instead of encouraging farming methods that harm the environment and bring mostly short-term benefits, we can help bring sustainable improvements in yields and livelihoods by demonstrating that improved food security and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand.

Our program is working with permaculture centers and sponsors smallholders/family farmers to learn about permaculture design. They are then be supported in sharing sustainable farming practices within their community. We take inspiration from the success of permaculture centers like CELUCT in the Chimanimani district of Zimbabwe.

Future plans include the development of a mobile phone platform, using technology that can benefit the most remote and resource-poor communities, and support the farmers in accessing and sharing information.

Recent Updates

September 19th, 2022. Our September Newsletter brings information from the farmers in Kisa West about how they are managing drought conditions with their new farm designs, putting their permaculture training into practice.
June 1st, 2022. Our June Newsletter brings a photo gallery from the farmers in Kisa West, as they implement their new farm designs, one year after they completed their permaculture training.
March 23rd, 2022. Our March Newsletter shares some great stories from the farmers who participated in our first pilot project in Asumbi, drawn from the doctoral research of David Yisrael Epstein Halevi.
December 31st, 2021. Our December Newsletter brings more updates from the farmers in Kisa West, and looks forward to extending this work to benefit many more farming communities in East Africa. 
September 30th, 2021. Our September Newsletter brings some early success stories from three of the farmers in Kisa West who completed their training at the end of May.
August 14th, 2021. Our August Newsletter introduces a new member of our Project Board, and links to an article published in Uganda about BEU's work, including the permEzone pilot project in Sanje.
April 30th, 2021: Our April Newsletter describes the growing culture of cooperation as the farmer training in Kisa West enters its final month.
February 17th, 2021: Our February Newsletter, with updates from BEU's work with the farmers of Sanje.
December 31st, 2020: Our December Newsletter, with updates from C-MRA's work with the farmers of Kisa West.
November 29th, 2020: Our 2021 Calendars are available in return for your donations until December 10th.
October 7th, 2020: Our October Newsletter marks the start of fundraising for our 3rd Pilot Project, back in Kenya with C-MRA, and with the farmers of Kisa West.
September 11, 2020: This special Newsletter explains the Doctoral Research that David Yisrael Epstein-Halevi will be carrying out with the farmers who participated in our first pilot in Asumbi.
August 23, 2020: Our August Newsletter gives a detailed account of the successful completion of our Phase One pilot project with C-MRA in Asumbi, Kenya.
July 2020: The 1st phase of the permEzone pilot was successfully completed in April, and the Final Report from C-MRA is now available to read online.