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8 forms of capital active hope agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis autumn Autumn equinox back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees full moon funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money moon phases Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans sage salad salads salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation trees upcycle urban urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Topics

8 forms of capital active hope agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis autumn Autumn equinox back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees full moon funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money moon phases Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans sage salad salads salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation trees upcycle urban urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Training the Next Generation in Earth Repair

Innocent Kelvin Coffie shares how EarthCare Permaculture Centre in Ghana are sharing permaculture tools with young community members.

Empowering Youth through Permaculture is a grassroots project led by a non-profit organization in the Volta Region of Ghana, Africa, to teach youth how to become self-sufficient in producing their own food and caring for the land.

Ghana has a history of government corruption, plagued by food shortages and destruction of land. Road development and gravel mining degraded the land leaving behind rubble and parcels of rocky terrain. Along with deforestation, cattle over-grazing, bush fires, and soil erosion from heavy downpours, the history of Ghana regenerated resiliency and determination for grassroots and rural initiatives.

In Adzokoe-Peki, a village of 3000 people, lay a tropical climate with diverse trees and plants, raining nearly every day for six months. The community depends on the rainy season to grow their gardens and crops. With limited means to collect, store and filter water, they rely on buying water stifling their financial resources. The villagers live about an hour from the city of Ho. Because Ghana is experiencing high inflation, transportation and supply costs drain their meager income.

In addition to the many challenges the area faces, the youth in the community are fleeing to the cities for work and better opportunities for economic gain.

EarthCare Permaculture Ghana Foundation in Adzokoe-Peki

From downpours to droughts, to a turbulent economy and deep-rooted government corruption, through it all stands permaculture leader and teacher, Innocent Kelvin Coffie.

As EarthCare Permaculture Ghana founder, I strive to inspire and empower youth through ethics, skills, and regenerative practices to not only grow permaculture, but help them develop regenerative life-enhancing skills. As an educator, leader, and coach-in-training, I teach students permaculture methods to regenerate their gardens at home and in their schools. We have served over 600 students and set up gardens at four different schools. Our foundation’s goal is to enhance the reach to our current training program to increase knowledge of permaculture with an emphasis on the youth. We are the only registered permaculture foundation in the entire Volta region.

EarthCare Permaculture Ghana Foundation was established in 2018 on two acres of donated land from my grandparents. They too were on the mission to regenerate a way of life for the villagers. This project relies on the materials that can be gleaned from our environment to build fences to keep animals out of our garden, to fabricate bricks from mud for building, and to sow seeds. Even with limited supplies, our foundation continues to do what we can. We serve approximately 300 people annually and supply Adzokoe-Peki with about 40% of their food.

In 2021 the EarthCare Training Center was hit by a devastating fire, burning it to the ground. Our small community’s resilience and determination was set back but not deterred. The Foundation follows the Ubuntu philosophy “I am because we are.”


Volunteers from Adzokoe-Peki community dedicated time placing landcrete bricks for the Earthcare Permaculture Training Center.
© EarthCare Permaculture Center

In Adzokoe-Peki, youth and families are struggling to afford food and come to the foundation to get help with gardening for exchange of crops and what little money we can provide. Our foundation has a food forest expanding across one acre of land. We grow spinach, basil, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, cocoyam, guava, papayas, sugar cane, plantains, coconuts, banana, cocoa, peppers, and ginger. We grow hedges for living fences and use neem for organic fertilizer.

We nourish excitement; we create learning moments and long-lasting memories of regenerative practices with everyone in our community. We travel to the western regions of Ghana to grow gardens, teach skills, and empower the future for as many people as we can to improve food sovereignty.

Many of our children, specifically girls, leave school to fetch water. The need for access to clean water is dire. We expanded our global support to help with crowdfunding for necessary supplies to build back our training center and provide better access to clean water. We utilize the technology we have as a tool to grow and develop worldwide relationships to strengthening the permaculture practices.

Lead photo: The community of Adzokoe-Peki clearing debris from the local drinking hole. Our source of water is limited, yet our community is strong. © EarthCare Permaculture Center

We cultivate and feed the relationship between people and the earth, helping them physically, mentally, and spiritually as they become empowered with a strong sense of accomplishment. When people work as a community to put the skills to practice, it becomes reinforced that they have worth and purpose which creates a harmonious space.


On left, Kingsley, a 21-year-old, and on right, Peace, a 22-year-old planting lettuce on the nursery bed. Our younger generations are the future of growing permaculture skills.
© EarthCare Permaculture Center

Empowering Youth Project

In our Empowering Youth Project, we set out to create lasting relationships by teaching valuable skills in how to pollinate cocoa, grow mushrooms, plant fruit trees, keep bees, compost, build bricks, and make liquid soap. The education of youth empowers them and increases their desire to improve their quality of life – a quality of life for all people from a range of economic and social situations.

The project supports the regeneration of natural resources by teaching youth how to utilize locally available materials while internalizing a deeper appreciation of sustainability of these resources. The project strives to teach students how to become self-sufficient, producing their own food and spreading their knowledge on the use of permaculture practices. The economic regeneration comes from the trainings to grow the skills and knowledge for generations to come.


Innocent Kelvin demonstrated to students how to make holes in the plantain sucker to plant vegetables. The plantain suckers have a lot of water in it which can maintain and promote plant growth.
© EarthCare Permaculture Center

Continuing Work

Our team is connected through social media on the WOOFF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farming) website, Facebook, as well as the EarthCare Permaculture site. One of the benefits of EarthCare Permaculture is networking with other permaculture groups who are active globally to share experiences and expertise. We continue to network to receive the appropriate funding to build our training center back and to expand our services to more people in the area. We continue to share trainings to grow permaculture knowledge with younger generations and to all people interested in EarthCare Permaculture. We continue to educate students in the process of using permaculture in furthering management of the resource. Education is an integral part of taking care of the people, taking care of the earth, and creating a healthier lifestyle for the children of the future.

EarthCare Permaculture Ghana was shortlisted for the 2022 Permaculture Magazine Award. Learn more about their work HERE.

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