The effectiveness of a permaculture education project in Butula, Kenya

ABSTRACT

In the 1980s, agricultural development organizations began promoting permaculture, an agroecological approach that emphasizes local autonomy, through training programmes in the developing world. Few assessments have measured the effectiveness of such projects. Here we surveyed and interviewed small-scale farmers to assess the perceived impacts of a Canadian permaculture non-governmental organization’s (NGO) project in Butula, Western Kenya. Two types of projects are evaluated and compared: community projects (CPs) at six primary schools, and an intensive two-week permaculture design certification (PDC) programme. Our results suggest that both PDC and CP participants felt that they had benefited from the projects. However, PDC participants developed a more comprehensive understanding of permaculture, felt empowered and frequently related permaculture to their own traditional cultural values whereas CP participants often misunderstood permaculture, felt frustrated by the limited immediate economic benefits and frequently contrasted permaculture against traditional cultural values. These differences may have occurred because CP participants had fewer opportunities to interact directly with the permaculture teachers, to ask questions, or to clarify points of uncertainty. This study emphasizes the importance of direct, reciprocal communication between NGOs and project participants for fostering feelings of autonomy and competence, thereby strengthening resilient agroecological systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Agroecology
• food security
• permaculture
• resilience
• self-determination theory

Acknowledgements

This study was made possible through the contributions of numerous advisors, research assistants and reviewers. We would like to thank Christian Acemah for helping with the initial design of this project. For their assistance in transcribing interview and offering peer reviews, thank you Sophie Major, Tanner Field, Michael Powell, Lee Anne Hockin-Grant, Jonathan Farmer, Madeline Dwyer, Graeme Stewart-Wilson, Emma Linde and Devon Francis. For permitting us to evaluate and critique their organization, and for their commitment to helping others achieve autonomous and resilient self-sufficiency, thank you to Michael Nickels and the Seven Ravens Permaculture Academy. For providing nourishment and shelter while KJHG did his fieldwork, thank you to Josephat Barassa and his amazing family. And above all, thank you to the families who accepted KJHG into their homes and supplied honest and thoughtful responses to his inquiries. We are grateful for the thoughtful comments of two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.