As you may have guessed, one of my passions is finding ways to enable people to feed themselves and to find nutritional food in their own environment which can be grown without undue (or no) cost and minimal drudgery. Here are some thoughts I have been working on recently. It definitely looks more organized in a Word document :(.
Integrated
Approach to Food Security
A disturbingly large percentage of
Hondurans suffer from malnutrition. In a country which is green year round, this
seems hard to fathom. In addition, an even larger percentage of the population
(both rural and urban) are, at all times, only a few days away from hunger.
Disruptions caused by storms, droughts or political and market upheavals, in
addition to the all-too-normal loss of jobs, medical and family emergencies and
myriad other misfortunes, become full blown catastrophes in short order.
Malnutrition has long term negative
effects. Children who are malnourished before the age of five become
handicapped for life. Their ability to learn, make wise decisions and compete
in the work force is severely hampered. They become, all too often, part of a downward
spiral which includes future generations as well.
Strangely, there are often times of
hunger in areas of the world where the landscape is still green. One can
understand hunger in deserts, snow covered wastes or drought affected areas.
But, to find hunger where the trees and landscapes are still green is
disconcerting. Changing weather patterns are one factor that is making this
type of hunger situation more and more common.
With this in mind, it is important to
find plants which can act as living "bank accounts". They can be part
of the regular diets (saving money and boosting nutrition) as well but their
primary purpose is to provide emergency food.
The focus of agriculture throughout the
world is, unfortunately, primarily on mono-culture plantings. The growing
Permaculture movement is working to develop alternative methods of growing
food. Large companies and, even, the education system continue to promote
single crop production systems.
Using Permaculture principles, lines and
boundaries of these living "bank accounts" can be integrated into
current mono-culture production without loss of growing potential for current
crop choices. These lines and edges can be viewed as a complement to
traditional systems as opposed to competition. In fact, a more likely scenario
is that these lines will enhance the traditional production.
Principles:
a. Harvest a maximum amount of sun and
rain year round.
- Picture
a forest compared to a Canadian wheat field which harvests sun and rain for
only 110 or so
days each year.
- Keep
the rain on the property ... near where it is needed for all types of
agriculture.
b. Prevent erosion with living, edible and
medicinal contour lines.
- Variety
of species
- Multi-layer
plantings
-- Three
to five levels (remember the different "layers" of roots as well)
- Multi-use
plants
-- Food,
fodder, fuel, medicine, fruit, flowers, mulch, soil stabilization
--- Short
and long term perennials
--- Coppicing
ability
---- Able
to be harvested multiple times and over several years
c. Seek to have a minimum of five(aim
for 15) edible leaf species of plants.
- Emphasize
perennial (long and short term) species for year round harvest
- Greater
range of nutrients
- Protection
from disease or insect invasion on one species
- Protection
from toxicity build up. (Some plants may be toxic when consumed in too great a
quantity or frequency - Leuceana, Chaya, Cassava)
- Variety
of root systems - greater sub-soil utilization
- 5
species allows for one species 2 days a month (26 days a year)
- Native
or traditional plants (may often fit into tiny spaces of lines)
- Plants
considered weeds may, in fact, be highly nutritious (Dandelion, pigweed)
d. Differing widths of lines.
- Single
plant (row) lines
- Narrow
swaths of permanent plants
-- Greater
erosion control
-- Greater
production potential
- Allows
for different sizes and types of plants
-- Pathway / ground cover plants can have their roots
within the lines and extend their branches
to cover the pathway
- Combinations
of lines and permanent bed construction
- Contour
lines with small reservoirs or in-ground water tanks as part of long term water
storage
-- A
tank 2.5 m x 5 m x 1.5 m deep can grow 75 - 100 lbs of fish in green water
conditions
-- Water
tanks do not have to provide a year round supply of water - they can be used as season
extenders (still very useful)
e. Differing placement of lines.
- Contour
lines
- Boundary
lines
- Pathways
/ Road ways
- Stream
bed banks
- Separation
of crop plots
-- Sometimes
the plants around the plots can be used to assist with insect control
f. Use these plants to maintain a stock
of leaf/vegetable powder. This powder should be a regular part of the
diet in any case. Having a constant stock on hand allows time to concentrate on
dealing with the
emergency itself. Significant (in the nutritional sense) amounts of leaf powder
do not take a great
deal of space or effort to produce. It is primarily a matter of creating new
habits - eating and
time management (not easy). Leaf/vegetable powder is easily transported.
- Plants
like Cassava, Sweet Potatoes and numerous vegetables have both above and below ground
nutritional potential (fresh and dried)
- Thought: Drying discarded leaves/vegetables would
provide nutritional food for animals
g. Find ways to maintain at least one
species of small animal which can utilize these plants.
- Immediate
source of protein.
- Animals
which reproduce quickly and use a variety of plant species.
-- Most
(all?) small animals benefit from the addition of leaf powder to their diets.
-- Fish
(Tilapia for example) can also utilize plants / powder
h. Growing systems that use the waste
from crop or animal production to benefit other segments of the operation.
- Chickens,
fish, leaves, leaf powder
- Chickens
or rabbits in portable pens over permanent beds
- Small
livestock like guinea pigs which can use "waste leaves"
-- Note: Cost of foodstuffs for animal production is
often prohibitive. Having a variety of food options
for animals as well as people provides greater income generating opportunities.
i. There must be enough plants available
to tide a family (and small livestock) over for at least six to eight
weeks (long enough for garden produce to be planted and come into production).
j. Species to consider (Honduras species
which are already part of the culture for the most part)
- Note: This is just a starter list. There are many
more species to consider.
Food:
- Chaya,
Pigeon Pea (large variety), Chipilin, Moringa, Leuceana, Mulberry, Sweet Potato, Cassava,
Arachis pintoi (flowers)
-- To
investigate: Calliandra, Gliricidia
sepium, Arachis pintoi
---(Will
the leaf powder from leguminous trees which are good fodder also be useable
as food?)
Fodder:
- Moringa,
Pigeon Pea, Sweet Potato, Mulberry, Arachis pinto, Calliandra, Leuceana, Calliandra, Gliricidia sepium
(Madriado), other legumes, Vetiver
Erosion
Control:
- Vetiver
grass (really the very best choice), trees, Lemon Grass, Arachis pintoi, Sweet Potato
vines
Medicine:
- Vetiver
grass, Moringa, Papaya, various trees
Fuel:
- Leguminous
trees are, generally, good sources of fuel
Fruit:
- Any
and all (a variety is better than only one species)
-- Consider
the short term perennials like Papaya and Plantain/Bananas in wider lines
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