In 2020, three community members from Gumbi Village, Traditional Authority Kabudula in Lilongwe North West, decided to write a new chapter in their area.
For many years, climate change related shocks such as prolonged dry spells and floods reduced crop harvests, rendering many households food-insecure.
Against this backdrop, the three—James Gomani, Martin Thole and Edwin Mponela— decided to fulfill the dreams of John Vidal, a journalist who worked with The Guardian newspaper in England to establish a permaculture centre in the village.
In his recollection, Mponela, who is project manager at the Permaculture Training Centre and also group village head Gumbi, says it was Vidal’s wish to see community members getting enough to eat and improve their livelihood.
He explains: “When Vidal visited Gumbi Village in the 2001/02 season, he felt sorry for its hunger situation.
“People were going to bed on empty stomachs. Children were just crying of hunger. Men did not know what to do to bring food on the table. We were hopeless and helpless.”
Mponela recalls that Vidal, who introduced a school fund initiative to support needy children to access education, shed tears when he saw the people’s sad condition.
“Then, he visited Permaculture Paradise in Mchinji District in 2018, where he was motivated by how modern agriculture technologies had improved people’s livelihoods there,” says Gomani, who is the centre’s project coordinator.
He explains that Vidal wanted community members from Gumbi to learn permaculture from their counterparts in Mchinji as one way of responding to climate change-induced problems.
“Unfortunately, Vidal passed on in 2018 before he could sponsor people from Gumbi to go to Mchinji to learn permaculture,” he says.
Hope renewed
Yet, when the community members in the Village thought all was lost, help came in their hour of need. Some donors from England decided to fund Vidal’s project.
Thole says the new donors sponsored the first three people—Gomani, Mponela and himself to learn permaculture in Mchinji.
He states: “We spent six months in Mchinji learning modern agriculture practices. After we finished, we came to implement the lessons. We are now implementing the activities on a 2.5-acre land.
“I am pleased to say that the project is benefitting over 50 villages. So far, 10 people, including six girls, have also acquired permaculture knowledge and skills.”
Why permaculture?
Over the years, climate change-induced shocks have affected crop production, especially the staple grain maize.
In the last three growing seasons alone, Malawi has seen the number of food-insecure people rising.
According to the Malawi Assessment Vulnerability Committee reports, at least 4.4 million people faced hunger in the 2022/23 season, about 5.7 million people experienced food shortages in 2023/24 season and 6.8 million will be facing hunger in the 2024/25 year.
Prolonged dry spells and floods have largely contributed to food shortages, a situation which has necessitated policymakers to encourage people to embrace modern farming technologies to avert the situation.
That is why Vidal was impressed by the impact of permaculture in Mchinji where he saw people making money through agriculture as well as getting food for their families.
“Therefore, he chose that we should practise agriculture which is in line with climate change. This farming does not use fertiliser, chemicals and uses what nature provides.
“What he envisaged was people growing crops that depend on each other and that are permanent such as fruits,” says Thole.
However, Vidal sparked an enthusiasm in community members who for many years had experienced hunger.
For that reason, they work hard to produce food to beat hunger.
Says Mponela: “We have dreams. To ensure that every household is food secure and is able to generate money through modern farming. This centre is teaching people modern farming techniques.
“We will introduce livestock and we will keep them in a local way.”
New technologies
As a centre of excellence, people will be able to learn farming technologies such as mulching, the use of manure, grafting, water-harvesting, keeping woodlots and fish farming.
Already, farmers at the centre grow crops using modern technologies such as mulching. This farming keeps moisture and ensures the crop thrives even when rainfall is little.
In addition, there are different crops that are grown there. These crops are left to grow together. There is also a woodlot where indigenous crops grow.
To ensure the centre keeps up with its reputation of conserving the environment, one of the donors bought three solar-powered cooking stoves to be installed at the kitchen. These stoves are the first of their kind in Malawi.
Explains the donor, who pleaded for anonymity: “I am interested in sustainability of the planet [I founded two small charities based on sustainable fashion to empower women www.chanasachifundomalawi.org] and an Internet search revealed that a small United Kingdom charity was developing a permaculture training farm at Gumbi.
“This involved funding the pond, irrigation, building and equipping the solar powered training kitchen, among others. Solar power is even better for assisting farmers as there are few costs to running equipment.”
Gomani says people from the surrounding areas will learn how to bake bread and other confectionery using the solar stoves.
“We will also teach people how to make stoves that use little firewood so that we should protect the environment,” he says.
New innovations
Besides growing crops under permaculture technologies, the centre has huts which are connected to solar power. These huts act as safe havens for people who would want to study or just relax.
“We will be generating money from letting the huts out,” says Thole.
Grooming young people
Ivy Makambo, 24, from Mgwata Village, T/A Kabudula, learned the new technologies in 2021. She says she practises the new farming technologies and is able to sell the crops to earn money.
She said: “As a youth, my future depends on taking care of the environment. So, I plant trees and practise the type of agriculture that does not destroy the environment.”
Another youth Everesi Phiri, 22, from Mphako Village, has already started reaping the fruits of permaculture. In the 2024/25 farming season, she was able to harvest crops for both food and sale.
Small strides, big impact
Two kilometres away from the permaculture training centre, Yosofati Kamwambeni Kalambo is practising permaculture.
His garden, located along Nambuma River, is a garden of Eden where different crops thrive. Fruit trees such as pawpaws, bananas, guavas, oranges and mangoes make beautiful scenery. Among the fruit trees are indigenous trees such as nsangu, chitimbe and others.
“As a homestead farmer, I practise permaculture as a response to climate change. My family does not lack food. I get food from the garden and I sell the surplus to generate income,” says Kalambo.
Three kilometres away from Kalambo’s farm is Thole’s orchard where he grows bananas and other fruits.
Located in a wetland, he also grows cabbages, sugar cane and bamboo.
“This garden serves to show people that it is possible to practise permaculture in a wetland,” he says.
Thole says that he generates an income through selling bananas and sugarcane from his farm.
The future is bright
Gumbi Village, where hunger affected almost everyone, is now a shining example of how simple technologies in agriculture can change people’s destiny. As they continue to learn modern farming from the permaculture centre, their future is bright.
