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The Treebog, an innovative design, offers a sanitation solution which uses the nutrients from human waste to feed trees. This paper is an invitation to inspire further research and development to adapt this concept to suit displacement contexts. < Back Treebogs: Innovations and Explorations The Treebog, an innovative design, offers a sanitation solution which uses the nutrients from human waste to feed trees. This paper is an invitation to inspire further research and development to adapt this concept to suit displacement contexts. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English

< back Date of completion: 1 Jun 2023 Ecosan Composting Toilets Urine diversion, dry composting toilets in a barrel, enriching soils for more nutrient-rich crops and healthier people. Seven dry Ecosan compost toilets, built by YICE Uganda in collaboration with Re-Alliance, were constructed in four villages within the Nakivale camp in Uganda. An innovative design, utilizing flood-proof containers that could be easily swapped, maximized the limited space available. A comprehensive illustrated booklet, translated into multiple languages, was produced to provide information on the proper use of the toilets. Additionally, 100 households received training on the safe reuse of urine in crop production. Single-parent households with children with disabilities were particularly selected for the project. One such household is Chantal's, a refugee widow from Congo, who has a firstborn son with epilepsy. Chantal expressed gratitude for the Ecosan toilet, stating, “I am Chantal, a refugee widow from Congo, and my firstborn is epileptic. I was always concerned about what might happen to my son during an attack while using a pit latrine. However, all my worries were alleviated after receiving an Ecosan toilet.”

< back Date of completion: 1 May 2025 Gardening in Small Spaces in Cox's Bazar Evaluating the impacts of home gardening in small refugee dwellings in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Between 2022 and 2025, Re-Alliance, in collaboration with the Food Security Sector in Cox's Bazar and Rohingya student researchers at the Asian University for Women, conducted a research project to evaluate the impacts of home gardening in small refugee dwellings. By interviewing 159 households and 14 organisations, this project explored the intersection of food security, health, and psychological well-being within a displacement context. The Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, face severe food shortages. In 2023, standard food assistance was reduced to just $8 per person per month, leaving families with a significant nutritional deficit. Despite the constraints of limited space and harsh conditions, the community’s food security response began to fill some of the gap, as over 1,000 gardening initiatives were recorded in 2022 alone. Our research found that 93% of gardens remained productive for 7 to 11 months after establishment, with Permaculture and Regenerative farms the most successful. Households reported multiple benefits, including improved food security and reduced dependence on external aid, with some harvesting up to 195 kg of fresh produce in the growing season. Beyond nutrition, respondents noted a genuine improvement in mental health. Some households even sold their surplus, earning up to 25,000 Bangladeshi Taka. Re-Alliance recommends a shift toward a regenerative approach inspired by Permaculture. This includes prioritising native and non-GMO seed saving, community composting, perennial plant growing (eg food forestry), and climate-adaptive techniques. We advocate for integrating the traditional agricultural knowledge of the refugees themselves, who bring deep farming expertise to the camps, and supporting the transition of this to cultivating kitchen gardens and working in small spaces without synthetic inputs. For some this is a leap, but for others, particularly women who may have been involved previously in vegetable gardening rather than open field farming, have a lot of valuable knowledge to share. Involving women farmers in supporting others to grow can be a more effective use of resources than employing external workers. It's important to note that people cannot be self sufficient through small kitchen gardens in refugee settlements. These spaces are a very valuable supplement to limited food availability, and if cultivated well, can provide surplus to sell and cash to buy other food stuffs. But with limited space, they cannot provide all of people's nutritional needs. Home gardens in Cox’s Bazar have proven to be more than just a means of food production. They empower individuals, provide nutritional and economic benefits, and restore a sense of dignity. Transcript from video below: "This is my tiny permaculture garden. I do not have extra space for gardening. I got Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) from BASD and started gardening. My neighbours also followed me, observing my garden. I didn't know much about gardening earlier, but now I know its importance, what good food is, and what poisonous food is. I planted some plants of bottle gourd, sweet pumpkin, brinjal, chilli, and tomato in a very small area. My family members and I enjoy food from our garden. I do sell a surplus of vegetables. I give thanks to BASD for giving us such beautiful training." - Siraj of Camp 19 at Cox's Bazar shares his garden and experience of working with BASD

An illustrated guide of how to save and use grey water and rain water for food growing in refugee camps and settlements, made in partnership with SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon, and Malteser International. < Back Gardening with Grey and Rain Water in Camps An illustrated guide of how to save and use grey water and rain water for food growing in refugee camps and settlements, made in partnership with SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon, and Malteser International. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English عربي Turkish

< Back Gisele Henriques Trustee Gisele is a resilience and livelihoods specialist with 15 years experience directly supporting the work of local organisations, social movements and communities in Brazil, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Indonesia and Timor Leste. In her current role she has global remit and works across the humanitarian and development spectrum with CRS. In her previous role as Food and Agriculture Policy Officer at CIDSE, the Alliance of Catholic Development Agencies she worked closely with the FAO, supporting civil society organisations in the Committee on World Food Security. Gisele has a Masters in Public Policy from the Goldman School, UC Berkeley as well as an MA in International Area Studies with a focus on small holders and adaptation in Africa.

< back Date of completion: 2 Aug 2024 Growing Mushrooms in Reusable Buckets Minak Projects trialled mushroom growing in reusable, upcycled containers in a refugee settlement. Between October 2023 and August 2024, Minak Projects ran a mushroom cultivation project in Nakivale, Uganda to create better food security, nutrition, and economic resilience. By supporting displaced women with specialised mycology skills, the project offered a pathway to financial independence and a strategy to combat local malnutrition. The project grew food insecurity in a context where food aid was being severely cut, by introducing a high-protein fungal food source. The project's circular design allowed the use of local agricultural waste such as dried legume husks as growing substrate. Once the substrate was used, it was then composted in local Permaculture food gardens, allowing the nutrients to return back to the land. Beyond the food harvest, residents' active participation strengthened community bonds and learning. Mushroom cultivation is a valuable addition in refugee contexts because the mushrooms can be grown in clean, upcycled and reusable containers such as buckets, and grown in small spaces. The crops also have good value-addition potential, with the ability to solar-dry the mushrooms and ground down to a storable and nutrient-rich powder. Re-Alliance worked with Minak Projects and other partners to develop a 'how-to' booklet, which was then translated into multiple languages, so other displaced communities can learn and adapt mushroom growing to their own contexts. Click the image below to download the publication.

< Back Ansiima Casinga Rolande Correspondent and Regenerative Settlements Storyteller Ansiima Casinga Rolande is committed to nurturing a culture that regenerates both people and the planet. With a background in community education, permaculture, and regenerative project design, she works at the intersection of peace, growth, systems change, and cultural transformation. Based in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda, Rolande founded FOLONA (For the Love of Nature), an initiative rooted in ecological learning, intergenerational storytelling, and women’s empowerment. Her work explores how compassionate communication and local knowledge can reconnect communities with the Earth and with each other. At Re-Alliance, she focuses on sharing regenerative stories from throughout the network, and especially the Regenerative Settlement in Nakivale.

< Back James Atherton Permaculture Lead, Communication & Storytelling Lead James is a Queer, Vegan Permaculture teacher with a background in climate activism, film and design. James has worked across the UK and Australia, and has co-founded several activist spaces in both countries. James is also the Learning Lead with Regenerosity.world, and works with Oxfam GB.

< back Date of completion: 1 Dec 2021 Grey Water and Rain Water Harvesting for Food Growing in Syria Piloting Grey water and Rain water harvesting and irrigation for food growing in Syria. This capacity strengthening project included the development of vegetable gardens in IDP camps in Northern Syria with partner organisation Syrian Academic Expertise. Working in three IDP camps in A’zaz and Jarablus in Northwest Syria, this pilot project tested the viability of creating vegetable gardens to grow food, partially irrigated by harvested rain water and grey water. The project started with training events including five successful webinars for our INGO sponsors and the production of a grey water booklet by SOILS Permaculture Association Lebanon . The growing plots varied in size, from home gardens to community gardens in A’zaz, and a school garden in Jarablus. The aims included introducing regenerative strategies to improve food security, mental health and community cohesion. Working with a large INGO, Re-Alliance acted in an advisory capacity, with our subcontracted partners, Syrian Academic Expertise, providing research, training and mentoring support. The gardens were successfully established with food grown, harvested and eaten. The gardens were highly popular with camp residents, with many more requests for participation than the pilot could facilitate. Bi-weekly mentoring visits were undertaken by our partners while Re-Alliance conducted monitoring and evaluation and the production of learning materials including an NGO guide to using harvested rain and grey water .

< Back George McAllister Trustee and Safeguarding Focal Point With an NGO background since the early 1990s, George’s experience spans humanitarian and development sectors in Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa. This first hand engagement with the realities of people affected by political instability, social division and shattered infrastructure drew George to agroecology, which combines biophysical and social and political regeneration. George is interested in inclusive processes that invite people into decision-making, to link relief to development more coherently and to stimulate new ways of thinking and acting together. George has experience in directing the NGO Garden Africa, which she co-founded in 2001 and currently works as an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (Coventry), where she completed her PhD in Stabilisation Agriculture.

This picture-led booklet, made in collaboration with GUPAP and Sporos, explores how to grow Permaculture-inspired gardens on the roof, especially designed for communities with limited access to land. < Back Building a Garden on the Roof This picture-led booklet, made in collaboration with GUPAP and Sporos, explores how to grow Permaculture-inspired gardens on the roof, especially designed for communities with limited access to land. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English Español Português عربي Swahili Français

< back Date of completion: 1 Jun 2023 Regenerative Urban Agriculture MOCGSE led a project focussed on supporting conflict-affected areas with regenerative urban agriculture demonstration and education. From November 2022 to June 2023, this Urban Agriculture project was led by the Mount Oku Center for Gender and Socioeconomic Empowerment (MOCGSE) and Tah Kennette Konsum. The project aimed to improve food and economic security for vulnerable Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), particularly women, girls, and youths, displaced by ongoing conflict in Cameroon. The team worked across 10 IDP settlement zones, reaching 450 households. MOCGSE's activities primarily focused on how farmers might integrate regenerative agricultural practices, including developing a demonstration site for training and conducting sessions on regenerative urban gardening techniques, and forming an IDP cooperative to manage crop marketing and savings. These activities aimed to create lasting improvements for livelihoods, nutrition, and education. Economic Livelihood : Participants generated an estimated earnings of 20,000 CFA (approximately USD$32.81) every two weeks from their harvests. Their harvests also reduced household dependence on food purchases, as they had direct access to fresh and nutritious vegetables. Food & Nutrition : The project improved overall diet quality and nutrition by consuming a diverse range of healthy foods and vegetables. Education & Growing Capacities : Participants gained practical skills in urban gardening, waste management, and composting. The project also enabled them to grow perishable foods using found, upcycled materials like broken buckets.