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In 2019 in rural Kamyaak, Senegal, residents with local organisation Jiwnit invited Jay Abrahams of Biologic Design (a UK regenerative water systems practitioner) to work together to build two double Treebogs, a simple and effective compost toilet, and a non-infiltration swale fed by rainwater from a shed roof. Planted around the Treebogs and along the swale edges 100 carefully selected trees were planted. The Treebogs give toilet facilities to the local community and the trees are fed by the nutrients in the faeces and urine and watered by the washing water. The Treebogs create fertile soil and productive trees, for food, fuelwood and polewood for construction.  A pre-existing orchard and vegetable area are watered by the 100 metre rainwater harvesting swale ditch. Local involvement and learning was built by sharing and talking with the community and a slideshow by Jay to build awareness of how all water passing through a site can be used. Local carpenters guided by Jay learnt about Treebogs as they constructed them and swale digging and tree planting was done by the community. BACKGROUND In Kamyaak, residents rely on growing their own food and on livestock for their livelihoods, in a challenging region where drought has led to desertification and land degradation. The Rainy Season is providing less rain, often for shorter periods and the six metre deep groundwater wells of the local villages are now giving saline water. Residents are working to regenerate the village with local organisation Jiwnit, their aim is to build soil and use harvested rainwater systematically to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and trees. This project brought together the skills of local carpenters with the regenerative  design skills of Jay Abrahams. If you would like to build Treebogs in Senegal or design and implement integrated water-retention systems, you can contact Jay and Jiwnit by following the details at the bottom of this page. Above: Led by local carpenter Aziz, villagers build the Treebog. REGENERATIVE IMPACT How can integrated water retention landscapes with densely planted Treebogs and rainwater harvesting swales  help communities battling desertification  ? IMPACT ON PLANET Soil is created and enriched below and around the Treebogs, and when planted with trees, helps combat desertification. Swales and Treebogs are passive systems that do not require energy from non-renewable sources to operate. This is in contrast to pit latrines or flushing toilets which fill underground tanks or pits, which need to be pumped out and the contents tankered away and can negatively effect groundwater. Treebogs use 'wastes' as a resource and feed the plant nutrients directly to productive trees and shrubs. Rainwater is harvested and retained by swales rather than it running off the land, which can cause erosion. With the extra water and nutrients trees grow more quickly and are bigger and healthier, increasing the local biological resource base and enhancing biodiversity. Trees and plants thrive absorbing carbon dioxide, shading the ground from scorching in the sun and creating habitats for other plants and wildlife, while their roots hold water within the landscape. IMPACT ON PEOPLE Low cost, clean, safe toilets built by the community, for the community. In an area where there are some flush toilets but the main option is open defecation the privacy and safe space provided by the Treebogs is especially valued by women. Treebogs are welcomed by villagers because there is no need to dig out or otherwise handle or move waste.  It is composted in place and absorbed by trees planted densely around the Treebog. Increased resources are created from the nutrients and water in harvested rainwater, washing water and toilet wastes. Trees provide food, coppice materials, shade, traditional medicine ingredients, wood for crafting and building and animal fodder. Fertile soil is created which can grow food for household use. Livelihoods are promoted by hiring local craftspeople for building and increasing the skills and capacity of everyone involved through knowledge sharing. Capacity building for around 200 people who took part in a 10-day workshop, increasing awareness of rainwater harvesting for resource production, along with environmental protection and enhancement. Increased sense of self-action and self-improvement; ideas spread by example throughout the locality. COMBINED REGENERATIVE IMPACT The creation of tree planted swales and Treebogs regenerates the land and enhances lives. Using low-cost or freely available local inputs, Treebog toilets enable trees to thrive and soil is created. There are multiple long-term benefits to people and place with little or no environmental cost. Above: a team from Kamyaak Village  dig swales using handtools. POTENTIAL How can this and other similar projects develop in the future? SCALABILITY Experience from the UK and around Europe shows the potential for large numbers of Treebogs which can be adapted to varied local conditions.  ​​ The toilet wastes within a Treebog are composted in-situ, reducing costs and logistical management. Cutting out the disposal, handling and transportation of waste by instead using it for soil production and ecosystem restoration. Treebogs are widely used in Europe where they are helping to create tree based, productive landscapes and home gardens. ​ Water retentive swales are used by Jay extensively at many different scales and, as well as retaining rainwater, they can be integrated into water treatment designs such as Wetland Ecosystem Treatment, or WET systems, to process sewage. See this example of a WET system using swales at a large festival site in the UK which serves 50 people all year round and up to 5,000 people four times a year during the gatherings on site. REPLICABILITY Water retentive swales fed by runoff from roofs can be easily replicated by local people with hand tools as specialised equipment is not needed. ​ Treebogs are easy to build and have a 30 year track-record in both temperate Europe and the brittle ecosystems of the Mediterranean. Provided a Treebog platform is mounted at least one metre above the ground, the structure can be adapted to use a variety of local materials and the skills and imaginations of  local people. Treebogs are built using simple hand-tools and can be planted with trees which can be coppiced for polewood - which can be harvested to make more Treebogs. Initially the siting of swales and Treebogs needs input from someone experienced in regenerative design (they should not be located where there is a likelihood of flooding),  but very soon local people gain the skills to ensure they will be located appropriately, will function properly and are able to build more. Local knowledge is important for the success of the Treebogs so that appropriate trees are used. Knowledge sharing and planning with local people is needed to make sure swales, Treebogs and the trees planted around them are properly maintained. "I feel that the Treebog has landed successfully in Africa, and that here at Kamyaak they will be looked after and used, meaning that Treebogs have a good chance of wider acceptance both here and in Africa generally. There is a greater opportunity to harvest rainwater from all of the roofs within the compound and direct this water to mulched tree and shrub lined swale ditches all around the compound." - Jay Abrahams, Biologic Design "We are absolutely convinced about the Treebogs and would like to help other communities to build their compost toilets. We see the results already in our village and are happy to share that knowledge. Just contact us by email or phone." - Aziz from JiwNit CONTACT AZIZ & JIWNIT contact@jiwnit.com Tel: 00221 772653038 CONTACT US If you would like to know more about Treebogs and water retentive landscapes, or be connected with Jay Abrahams at Biologic Design, contact us here.

In Bukompe refugee settlement in Uganda, each household is given a plot of land by the government. Local organisation YICE have been working long-term and at scale with the community and brought in Caleb Odondi Omolo, from Sustainable Village Resources in Kenya, for a training project focusing on regenerative food production. YICE and Caleb worked with local residents to build a demonstration kitchen garden as a collaborative workshop where people learnt as they worked together. Following the workshop and seeing the success of the garden, 13 nearby households spontaneously created their own gardens helped by the local owner of the demonstration site, who shared his knowledge and experience. In parallel Noah (YICE) and Caleb ran training courses to build compost heaps with 35 refugee farmers, making use of freely available materials like weeds, manure and cooking ash. They also created demonstration sites of lasagna beds and no-dig gardens which grow fertile crops while creating nutrient rich soil. BACKGROUND Bukompe settlement in Uganda is an area where small plots of land are given to refugee families unable to return to their homelands. The pressures of earning a living  with little resources has led to deforestation for charcoal production and degraded soils from monoculture maize and bean fields fed with fertilisers and pesticides. The fertilisers and pesticides are costly and have reduced incomes for farmers and have also degraded soils. Building awareness of organic farming methods, using freely available inputs, has increased the productivity of farm plots and encouraged the creation of household kitchen gardens outside homes. REGENERATIVE IMPACT How can low-input kitchen gardening and farming help communities battling poverty and land degradation? "The gardens are designed with nature firmly in mind. Corn is used for mulching, and once broken down by termites replenishes the soil. Banana trees draw in nutrients from the air and ground; spinach, cabbage, and climbing beans create a variety of layers, supporting the whole system as they grow. Everything here has a purpose." - Caleb Odondi Omolo - organic farming and permaculture trainer IMPACT ON PLANET Rainwater is retained using S-Shaped contours rather than running off and causing erosion. Growing mixed crops and creating soil through no-dig techniques increases biodiversity while holding water within the landscape. Creating fertiliser through compost reduces the use of chemical fertilisers which are energy intensive to produce and transport. Using natural and targeted pest control reduces the number of plants, animals and microorganisms killed through pesticide use. IMPACT ON PEOPLE From one demonstration garden, self-motivated, self actuated implementation soon led to 13 more gardens, encouraged by local resident Fred, who has taken on the role of leading the other refugee gardeners, encouraging and mobilising them. With input from YICE, the refugees in this settlement are growing enough to feed themselves, and will soon also be able to sell vegetables at the market. The diversification of food crops has led to an increase in nutrition. The creation of compost heaps to create fertiliser and Lasagna and no-dig gardens allows diverse crops to be grown without expensive inputs while building fertile soils. 'Waste' charcoal dust from around the site was turned into a resource of free soil-improving bio char. "I always thought using modern fertilizers is best to improve my productivity but now I’ve changed my thinking. I will create my own compost heap and harvest my own fertilisers." - Owambaze Pelazia - Bukompe resident and farmer COMBINED REGENERATIVE IMPACT A diverse mix of plants were chosen for the kitchen gardens with multiple benefits like speedy growth, drought resistance, shade enhancement and attractive to beneficial insects.  The gardens are planted to last, with a preference for perennials. Here a self-renewing integrated environment is created, enhancing place as well as feeding people. ​ ​This project is about more than supporting people in need. It’s about empowering people to take control of their own lives, and at the same time regenerate the land. The wellbeing of people, their communities and the environment they live in are all improved in a mutually beneficial cycle. POTENTIAL How could this and other projects develop in the future? The building of just one demonstration garden led to 13 copied gardens. More demonstration sites showing the successes of kitchen gardens could spark spontaneous growth in community led design and garden building, with support and guidance given from trained people where needed. Through this and similar projects, YICE has trained 158 Farmer Groups, established 40 Permaculture demonstration gardens and increased the income of 669 households. This project is being replicated successfully by YICE in the local host communities, who face similar food security challenges. WHAT'S NEXT FOR THIS PROJECT? YICE are working with local people to create an additional 20 organic kitchen gardens and conduct follow-up activities and refresher training to empower people to put the knowledge they’ve learnt into practice. CONTACT US Get in touch if you would like to know more about creating demonstration kitchen gardens in refugee camps or sustainable agriculture training.

The planet's fresh water supplies are limited, climate change is adding to periods of intense rain and subsequent drought and the structure of the earth’s subsurface is easily damaged if the water table is not able to remain relatively consistent or to be replenished. The installation of deep wells contributes to the lowering of the water table, impacting on plants and animal life and contributing to the occurrence of landslides. ​ The Alam Santi design team have been working with the UN, governments, businesses and local communities to design rainwater harvesting systems that can be used by everyone to help replenish natural fresh-water resources. BACKGROUND The team have worked out a system for both calculating the size of tank needed to store water, to remove debris and to filter the water itself, ready to store and deliver with a pump by demand. They recommend the use of traditional, corrugated steel cladding and a maximum roof length for optimal drainage. Their calculator for working out the size of the system needed per household or per building is easily adapted for different environments. Their design further specifies materials needed to build and install the system. Alam Santi’s work makes recommendations for devices to reduce water use by adapting shower and tap heads and by installing specially designed toilets that extract urine with separate flushes for faeces or urine. The latter allows for water with diluted urine to be reused in irrigation and to add additional nutrients to plants. ​ Combined with simple technology (like perforated bamboo pipes inserted next to trees and plants to ensure water reaches their roots directly) and landscaping and storm drains designed to capture and use any water run-off,  the planet’s limited freshwater supplies can be conserved and used most effectively. IMPACT ON PEOPLE Heightening public awareness of the water they use and the difference they are able to make Ensuring water is more equitably shared and available for all sections of the population Enabling people to reuse and recycle water in order to cultivate gardens and produce their own food IMPACT ON PLANET Prevents the desertification of land caused by lowering the water table through excessive drilling of wells Limits the landslides caused when the water table is unable to be replenished Provides irrigation (and urine fed irrigation) for plants and vegetables avoiding excessive use of pesticides or GM crops WHAT MAKES THIS REGENERATIVE? How can water harvesting deepen human relationships with natural systems? Water harvesting, at individual household, community, or state level brings together a range of techniques that contribute to the regeneration of the environment and prevents the degeneration caused by excessive human populations. ​ Effective use of water and careful harvesting of rainfall show the close interaction between humans and their environment and illustrates how, when working together, communities and environments can thrive. It illustrates an approach to meeting the human need and right for clean water without depleting or stealing from the natural world. SCALABILITY & REPLICABILITY As a series of techniques that can be used at different levels and in different contexts, water harvesting can be introduced at any scale of human settlement. The drilling and digging of deep wells have for several decades been a core part of international development’s response to water scarcity in an attempt to reduce water borne disease and the daily trek to carry water experienced by many village populations. While good intentioned, these can add to the degeneration of an area and future livelihoods, in the attempt to alleviate human suffering in the short term. ​ In contexts of disaster and displacement, shelter and water have to be provided in a hurry and is often trucked in with drinking water provided in bottles and wash facilities constructed rapidly.  ​ The existence of an integrated design approach, the construction of emergency buildings and facilities that allow for harvesting and recycling of grey water or diluted urine and the promotion of water harvesting habits will mean that such a settlement is viable in the longer term without unnecessary damage to the environment or health risk to the community. Such settlements can then include green spaces and vegetable gardens and become thriving places for humans and the natural world. CONTACT US Get in touch for links to Alam Santi, and our wider network of water harvesting and filtration practitioners.

A Return to the Village In India, like many countries, the migration of people from rural villages to large cities in search of work and livelihoods is the common flow. Pushed by water scarcity, there are estimated to be nearly 100 million inter-state migrants in Indian cities, many of whom live in poverty in informal settlements. In March 2020 the Indian Covid Lockdown reversed this flow when millions of migrant workers fled cities as wages evaporated and returned home to their villages. Indian Lockdown, March 2020: people flee the cities in reverse migration back to villages What awaited them could be anything from an eroded desertified landscape with little opportunities to subsist, to a fertile and verdant agricultural area with a cohesive community, sustainable rural economy and opportunities of self-sufficiency and employment. What makes the difference between these two extremes? Water. If water is not held within the landscape it washes through and away leading to erosion, depleted aquifers, failed crops and biodiversity and habitat loss. Many people who returned home from cities found that the place they had left had eroded further, that, in tandem with the exodus of young migrant workers, water too had left their villages, and with it, life. But, as we will see, by regrouping as a community and taking collective action, eroded lands can be rejuvenated and life can be restored. By changing the flow of water, people too are held and sustained and opportunities can be found in the place they call home. The UK-based The Flow Partnership have been working with the Rajasthani organisation Tarun Bharat Sangh and villagers in Rajasthan to do just this. Together they create traditional ‘johads’ or ponds, enabling a holistic regeneration of the surrounding land, the community and the local economy. The Flow Partnership are also taking this model of Community Driven Decentralised Water Management into other countries in the world- especially into Africa and Latin America, working closely with local NGO’s such as TBS in those locations. Climate change and drought in Rajasthan Increasing and more lengthy droughts, fueled by climate change, are leading to desertification and livelihood loss in Rajasthan. In the Sarsa river catchment area, at least 21 rivers and streams have disappeared leaving wells and boreholes dry. Monsoon rains bring water back to the arid landscape, but if the water is not held it washes out of the area and cannot be used to irrigate crops. Johads, traditional rainwater filled ponds, once acted to retain water within the landscape, supplying the surrounding area with gravity-fed water. As the wells and boreholes go dry, local people are again appreciating the regenerative effects of johads to bring back life to a parched landscape and are working together to restore ancient johads and create new ones. Building Johads - a multiple partnership Villagers meet to agree plans for the johad and collectively work to construct it “The average rainfall is very low here. That is why we, the people of Maharajpura came together and decided to make our johad bigger.” Johads are earthworks of a pond sculpted out of the landscape and the formation of a dam with rocks and earth, sealed with soil compacted by a JCB. An overflow area is made from rock or concrete. Bushes and vegetable crops are planted on the slopes to stabilise the soil and a gravity powered syphon feeds and irrigates crops. Sometimes the pond is stocked with fish which can be caught and sold. Making johads is a collaborative endeavour. Villagers undertake earthworks with their tractors and trailers, with a JCB and driver hired-in. Together with the villagers Tarun Bharat Sangh has created dozens of johads throughout Eastern Rajasthan. Johads are built through a multiple partnership of: local wisdom, labour and investment, regional expert engineering advice and facilitation, local and international funding. Stakeholders, local people are empowered and motivated to maintain and manage the johads ensuring their upkeep for years to come. As well as design knowledge and labour, local people contribute one third of the cost of building the dams, with UK-based The Flow Partnership arranging to contribute the balance two thirds. The positive change that johads create reflects this partnership with benefits which are local, regional and global in scale: small drops in the pond create global ripples. Local Regeneration through Natural Infrastructure “Earlier, without the johad this was all barren land. There was nothing here.” If water is assured locally, food and nutrition security are enabled. Villagers can then focus on agricultural development and becoming economically viable self-sustaining units creating rural livelihoods. Rainwater-filled johads built on high ground can seep water through underground aquifers supplying nearby boreholes and wells and irrigating neighbouring fields. But a Johad is more than an irrigation resource. With water held naturally within the landscape, it brings life to entire ecosystems where populations of fish, birds and other wildlife proliferate. Johads create a regenerative farming model by building self-sustaining eco-systems. Watered crops create increased yields and income for villagers - generating new employment opportunities, for example, in one such village where a johad had been built by The Flow Partnership and Tarun Bharat Sangh, better grazing land for cattle meant that 40 young villagers could be employed selling milk; migration to the cities is not needed when there are opportunities for jobs closer to home. With greater incomes, more girls are funded to go to school and health resilience is improved due to better diets. By investing in the village, resilient cohesive communities are sustained and developed enabling a continuation of a way of life which is less extractive than urban living. Food is grown to feed the local population without the need for transporting long distances and informal economies of exchange of goods and services can continue, such as caring for children and elderly relatives, sharing of home-grown healthy food and heritage seeds and swapping of labour. Regional Stability Successful small and medium food production goes beyond self-sufficiency at a local level when food is exported and sold regionally. This gives a stable income to the local area, while also supporting regional food security and feeding of urban populations without the excess food-miles and harmful practices of centralised intensive agriculture. With livelihoods sustained within the village, there is less migration to urban areas, reducing the pressures of overcrowding in cities. Global Benefits The sum of multiple communities regenerated by water retention create cumulative global benefits. Global biodiversity is increased as habitats are preserved and carbon emissions are reduced by using sustainable irrigation methods. Carbon is sequestered in the increased areas of healthy soils and water in the landscape. Preserving small and medium agrarian villages maintains traditional and regional identities, adding to the rich diversity of world cultures and products and reduces homogenisation. By becoming self-sufficient, rural populations can contribute to the wider economy and are less dependent on national and international aid financing. Beyond India - Community Wisdom Creating Global Ripples Many cultures have their own traditional methods to retain water in the landscape at the community level using natural infrastructure. The Flow Partnership is currently working with communities in Colombia in collaboration with UK engineering firm ARUP to build their own form of johads called Jagueys. In Slovakia NGO People and Water headed by Michal Kravcik have created a series of microbasisns and similar johad like leaky dams along with the villagers to revitalise the local flooded landscapes. Climate change is water change, but community driven water retention measures can be applied throughout the world to respond positively to this change, to sustain life and help bring our climate back to health. Next is an ambitious project to revive the badlands in Rajasthan see: https://waterways.world/images/dang_project.pdf Read More at https://www.theflowpartnership.org and watch the Flow Partnership's film, Water For All at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKXGfyR5_SY

By Chris Evans. The word 'development' is like a double-edged sword. It can be a tool to cut your fodder needs, or it can cut your throat. It can mean improvement in quality of life, or it can herald a slide into deterioration of social, economic and environmental systems. Here, Chris Evans examines the history of the word development, and the part Permaculture has to play as a method of ensuring its positive side. Picture above: Remote upland villages like this one in Humla, Nepal are the last to get access to development as most organisations prefer easy access. The word 'development' is meaningless. It is what Wolfgang Sachs called an 'amoeba word', having no fixed boundary, yet within it can be all, or none. We cannot use current speech without using it, though it is a relatively recent addition to the common language. It was U.S. President Truman, in a Presidential address on January 20th 1949 who first split the world into two parts - the 'developed' and the 'under-developed'; the 'North', and 'South'. So the concept of development is a very young concept, while the 'underdeveloped' world is full of diverse, traditional cultures, evolved and adapted over centuries and holding the wisdom of generations. However, now these cultures have become defined by what they lack, and it is deficit which marks its boundaries. Similarly, the poorest part of the world is designated only one-third – the 'third world' – despite it having most of the population and biodiversity. I prefer to call it the two-thirds world; other names such as 'global South' and 'Majority World' are also used. Truman saw the world as a race on a track - some in front (Europe, U.S.A., etc.), some at the back (the two-thirds world) and some in the middle (the 'Eastern Block'). The speed of the race is measured by Gross National Product (GNP, also a new term, coined by Colin Clark in 1948). This is how the world became organised. Before this, there was no measure of poverty (though there was assuredly less), but there was rampant exploitation of natural resources and an effort to increase social standing through education and income. The imperative of the development race - an objective all governments strive for - is to catch up. A primary objective for the 'developed' world, to show an effective (not ethical) use of its profits, has been to pull all nations into the race, i.e. the world market. Secondly, it has been to train the new nations to be competent runners - how to run fast. To get on the racetrack, you need three things. Firstly, you need cash input. Secondly, you need input (import) of technology, and thirdly you need cultural change. All investment into development is towards these goals, and therefore old, traditional ways become an obstruction to development. Above: Women planting SRI rice, a radically new technique that take a few years’ commitment to embed in communities, but can double rice yields with no significant extra inputs, with less water and less seed. The Role of International Banks The training in how to run faster in the race is provided by those in front. This is rooted in the international banking syndicates - the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund etc., but also encompasses in the national scale, central government and the elite classes that run it. After this, everyone else are like lost sheep running whichever way they are herded. Governments are provided massive loans and grants in order to enter and run the race, for which they have to implement an 'economic structural re-adjustment programme'. This takes different forms, but some of the criteria for reform frequently include removal of barriers to free trade (thus countries with cheap or excess product can dump this into other countries' economies), cutting government spending (education, health, and other public services) and high emphasis on cash crops and consumer goods for export. The latter is to compensate for shortage of foreign currency, where economies must be restructured to perform 'more competitively' on the world market and to increase the nation's ability to service its debts to the international banks. This takes emphasis away from meeting basic needs and the whole vast 'informal economy', which is based on small farmers, especially women who play such a crucial part to produce food for local needs. Traditional systems of recycling wealth and non-money value systems are undervalued and consequently lost. Opening up to the international development community implies giving access to local markets for agribusiness corporations. Their saturation policy and government support pressurise traditional farms to adopt seed hybrids, monocultures and chemical fertilisers (leading to pesticides) in the place of local resources. There is a general pattern of less food grown for local consumption every year. Opening up to international markets as the only form of development is also inherently risky, though they can play a part to augment and diversify strong local economies. Now into the race, trying to keep pace and breathe, developing nations regularly fail to service the interest payments on debts accrued to finance capital intensive development projects. Thus, the traditional food base is further compromised by the need to produce goods for export. Again, emphasis is all the time taken away from local solutions to local problems, away from investing in local resources (skills, environment, technology) or building a strong local economy. Above: Netra Gurung, farmers’ leader in Surkhet, Nepal displaying what’s possible with good organic growing. Dissolving Traditional Cultures Development, therefore, is re-distributing knowledge with the rationale that traditional cultures are ignorant. It dissolves cultures not centred around the frenzy of accumulation and consumerism, and the level of 'civilisation' is measured merely by levels of production and consumption. Yet for the whole world to mine and consume the resources needed to acquire the current standards of Europe or the U.S., and to dump its waste afterwards, we would need six planets to look after our one. Hardly a realistic situation, and it is because of this that the development race can only fail, as it points in the wrong way, and runs into an abyss. Nowadays, 'First' and 'Third' Worlds are not so much separated by geographical area - there are elements of both on every land mass. Europe and Japan compete their race on Indian soil. Development is now not so much an issue of being exploited, as it was in colonial times, but one of being included or excluded. To be included, you need a car, a job, a bank account, etc. So what for the choices ahead? Maybe it is like choosing a bus ticket - one to a sustainable future where all needs can be met, or one which heads into the abyss. If you are already on the latter, there is nothing to do but to get off the bus, and find one going to a sustainable destination. We have to accept a finite nature in order to increase the possibility of dignity for more people. We need to create a society not dependent on exploiting. This is done by reducing our energy throughput (by up to 50%), and living gracefully with less energy needs, and a reduced economic growth. Thus traditional cultures become a positive resource, as it is they who have flourished for centuries using local resources, without their over-exploitation. Their indigenous knowledge is an untapped reservoir of ideas & solutions that already exist in farming and social systems that have maintained themselves, without money as a primary or priority means of exchange, for many years. By working with and respecting this traditional wisdom, as Permaculture designer and teacher Lea Harrison says, "We are not going back to a more primitive society, but forward to a more intelligent one." Above: A Permaculture Design workshop with the Himalayan Permaculture Centre. What and Who are we Developing? All this led me to explore the wider context of development: what is to be developed? For whom? By whom? For how long? And of course, how? The answers, of course, inevitably start with “it depends…”, as what we have realised over the past decades is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer or technique. Context is everything, and depends on many factors of what, why, where, who, when and for how long. Below are some fine examples of existing projects that provide clues as to the way forward. It’s also interesting to see the difference and similarities between humanitarian and regenerative development work. The former is about people and communities that have been forced to leave their homes because of human and/or naturally-induced disasters, and are needing to meet their needs (basic and otherwise) in artificial settlements. The latter, meanwhile, is about communities developing their own homes and settlements and is illustrated by the Himalayan Permaculture Centre’s mission to co-create abundant villages that people don’t need or want to leave, because they are meeting all their material and non-material needs locally. Both are about creating abundance and meaningful lives, but in very different contexts. Permaculture, with its time and site relevant design systems and careful energy accounting, is a synthesis of the principles of ecology and natural systems, traditional wisdom, and modern scientific knowledge and innovation. Design is used to create cultivated ecologies and communities, based on natural wealth and linked to cyclic economic systems that are self participatory and respectful of traditional societies. In fact, permaculture has already played a positive role in International development over several decades. In many countries, using the Permaculture principles of “Observe and Interact” and “Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback”, these roles are becoming more common and more effective over time. Permatil in Timore-Leste have successfully integrated principles into over 1,300 schools, have been embedded in local government policy, and have created the fantastic Tropical Permaculture Guidebook. In Zimbabwe since 1988, the great Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre pioneered work that has been replicated throughout Southern Africa. In Malawi, Never Ending Food is a well-established implementer of best-practice ideas since 1997. These are great examples, not just of the techniques and approaches espoused to community groups, but in the very management of organisational planning, design, implementation, learning, monitoring and evaluation that goes to making effective and participatory development interventions. It is the learning from such initiatives that our team, including fellow Re-Alliance members, and I have created a 'Permaculture for Development Workers' course, looking at the common patterns of success that can be shared to make development more effective. Through this course, we work with development professionals to illustrate just how useful permaculture design has been, is being and can be. Finally, if solutions appropriate to current issues are to be developed, farmers must be considered experts in their own right, given the respect and value due, and their innovations taken seriously and included in the research and problem solving process. There are after all just two types of people: farmers, and those dependent on farmers. Chris Evans lives on and manages Applewood Permaculture Centre, aka Waterloo Farm, in North Herefordshire, UK, with his partner Looby Macnamara. He is also advisor to the Himalayan Permaculture Centre in Nepal where he has worked in permaculture develop­ment for over 30 years. Article first published in Permaculture Magazine, Autumn 2019.

Sustainable Village Resources (SVR) Kenya is a community based, non profit organisation, restoring lost livelihoods by creating natural, agro-ecological ecosystems. SVR is a perfect example of how a mutli-layered, socially driven permaculture project can have far reaching effects in community. From delivering Permaculture Design Courses to tree-planting initiatives, SVR’s multiple aims are to reach out to people overlooked, displaced or disenfranchised by mainstream social, financial and political variables and engage them in practical solutions to become self-sufficient and independent. Permaculture Teacher Caleb Omolo (right) with farmer receiving her Permaculture Design Certification (PDC). SVR has been running since 2012, reaching people in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, DCR, Uganda and Southern Sudan. The key aim is to improve food security in the region, including everyone in the community, regardless of age, gender or ability. Other goals are to restore biodiversity, increase productivity and strengthen community through the use of indigenous knowledge and agroecological systems. There is a focus on permaculture as a key to regenerating soil and land and providing good quality, organic food. Some of the key principles that SVR work by are to build from 100% local materials, harvesting water for irrigation, no dig methods, building soils naturally and using no chemical pesticide inputs. These methods allow people to replicate the systems cheaply and easily in their agroecological zone and with a focus on accessibility for the whole community. Indigenous knowledge is the first thing to be assessed, so that this can be built on to tailor the context of the education to groups. What makes this Regenerative? Impact on Planet The training provided by SVR champions food production through permaculture design. This includes the building of soils and humus, water harvesting and management, applying no dig principles, designing multi-layered growing spaces and of course, obtaining a yield. Through designing food production with natural systems the impact on the planet is one of increasing biodiversity and a move away from reliance on synthetic chemical inputs. This has a positive impact on the land and local ecosystems. Impact on People This project particularly focuses on people care and the creation of a community of educators, growers and practitioners who are able to apply permaculture design for food security, environmental regeneration and social cohesion. A lower dependency on inputs such as herbicides, pesticides and growth enhancers means a lower financial output, a key area of focus for allowing farmers to improve their financial security whilst obtaining healthier and more natural produce. Organically, locally grown food also has a function in wellbeing, as people are able to trace where their food comes from, eating better quality and more abundant healthy food and feel a sense of ownership. Shared knowledge of permaculture also allows an increase in confidence and often better community relationships, which this project has been able to demonstrate. Knowledge and education are key areas of people care and SVR’s primary goal of integrating existing indigenous knowledge with permaculture design, allowing communities to put their own stamp on their particular projects. Regenerative Impact: whole-systems integration of people and planet, and improving qualities SVR has a regenerative impact in several ways. Firstly, their approach of establishing indigenous knowledge regenerates cultural and community based relationships within each area they operate. This allows each participant the opportunity to act as both educator and student, a mutually beneficial relationship with the programme leaders. Secondly, the reintroduction of organic and permaculture design principles allows the growing areas to regenerate, whether through soil quality, increased biodiversity or increased productivity. Water harvesting techniques are also powerful aspects of environmental management. This project seamlessly integrates people and planet, and SVR is actively involved in both the educational aspect as well as the physical implementation and building of the designs created during their PDC training. A great example of the application of this education is the Rongo shade grown coffee initiative. Scalability & Replicability SVR has already proven it can work across scales, having reached communities in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, DCR, Uganda and Southern Sudan. The key principles of engaging the community, education and implementation are easily scalable to groups of many sizes. It is also a setup that can be replicated across many different communities. What's Next for SVR? Building on their successes, SVR has a network of permaculture practitioners throughout Kenya. They are now extending their work to Nairobi, and Kukuma in Northern Kenya where they are working with refugees. Additionally SVR are working within schools to educate children on permaculture, three in Kenya and one in Nairobi. Further Information Shade grown coffee provides habitat for animals including a fantastic foraging habitat for birds. In this system, the coffee is grown intercropped with trees. As well as providing a better ecosystem it also produces a better quality product, contributing to the needs of people and planet. Multi layered growing spaces are useful in permaculture design. They increase the space available for food production, create multi-layered systems that are closer to existing systems in nature, and they also provide microclimates, such as shade, moist or dry conditions or shelter from the wind. 350 former sugarcane farmers and 65 farmers who had former involvement in gold mining were able to grow coffee through polyculture design systems. These designs co-planted coffee with other species, such as trees, which increases the quality of the coffee grown and has improved yields of up to 5 times higher. The shade provided by the trees is a more traditional method of growing coffee, mimicking the conditions coffee favours naturally. The trees used for shade trees are often able to supply a yield themselves, such as fruit, giving the farmer a secondary income. Additionally, this set-up provides habitat for birds and plenty of other species. Each farmer involved in this project has been able to increase the amount of produce they grow and their income as a result.

Transforming Lives and Communities with Regenerative Agriculture in Uganda Background Based in Kases, Uganda, the Karambi Group of People with Disabilities (KGPD) was founded in 1995 in response to the discrimination, isolation, and exclusion faced by people with disabilities within society. Muhindo Josephat, Executive Director of Karambi Group of People with Disabilities, describes what inspired him to form the group: “Some of the parents here lock children [with disabilities] in their houses, then go away and leave them there. So I advocated that every parent who had a child with disabilities should bring that child before people, so that every person knows that in this household, is our friend, this person with a disability.” The members and leaders of the group, including Josephat, have disabilities themselves and use their insight and ingenuity to design accessible programs to fully involve others who have been marginalised, enabling them to use their diverse abilities to enrich their standards of living, their environment and communities. In 2015, the Group identified the need to improve the environment on their organisational land which was suffering from soil erosion and undertook a tree planting and education program to regenerate the land and invigorate those using it. Impact on Planet The group applied for funding to the Sustainable Lush Fund, who accepted the project and linked them with Re-Alliance members in Kenya who visited to facilitate a permaculture design by the local people with disabilities who used the land. The training enabled the group to give voice to the sustainable practices they already had in place which valued and maximised their precious human and natural resources: “We realised we were doing permaculture unknowingly!” (Muhindo Josephat) Regeneration of the land began in 2016 when the Group planted over 2000 trees and 100 fruit bushes and nursery beds were established. Image: Land before and after tree planting and vegetable gardens. Impact on People With a thriving environment to host activities, the site became a demonstration training ground for permaculture and conservation and in 2017, 50 people with disabilities were introduced to permaculture gardening and were given tools to start practicing skills at their homes. Through creating kitchen gardens, people with disabilities were able to create environments that were fully accessible for them to work in and grow their own food for feeding themselves, their families and for sale at market. The Group are fully engaged with the wider community and have partnered with eight schools and four community-based groups where they have empowered over 2142 young adults and 300 adults with food growing skills and permaculture principles. To support these projects they have installed seven irrigation systems in schools and 30 families have received water tanks. Working through schools has empowered disabled young people to become social transformational leaders, taking action at school, at home and in their community. The group’s aim is to see families grow organic food to feed their families and regenerate the environment. To date the group have planted over 30,000 trees which yield both fruits and wood. “In my home, I’m now able to do permaculture gardening - planting bananas, planting cassava, planting coffee - those skills are all from the Karambi group. It has improved me economically, administratively, and for being famous around the community!” Muhindo Josephat “Karambi has given me the skills to produce food to feed the children and myself on a balanced diet, and I can sell some to get an income. I have a group that normally goes to the market to do business - selling eggplants, tomatoes, onions.” (Fabis Sahan, a member of KGPD) Combined Regenerative Impact The discrimination and exclusion of people with disabilities means their innate energy and intentions cannot be used to positively engage and create in the world. Many systems in society are wasteful, the exclusion of people from meaningful activity and engagement in sustaining networks is perhaps one the most wasteful and dehumanising. In contrast, the engagement of people with disabilities in self-sustaining, enriching and regenerating processes gives health and resources to the environment and the individuals involved and enables the wider community to see the strength of fully employing the diversity of human abilities. Funding groups made up of, and led by, people with disabilities breaks down prejudice in communities and ensures a meaningful understanding of accessibility in programme design and implementation. As Muhindo Josephat, Executive Director of Karambi Group of People with Disabilities said: “After people learned about us, they no longer laughed at us. Now they come to us to ask for advice and get information - it makes us feel proud.” Muhindo Josephat Scalability An estimated 1 billion people – 15 percent of the world's population – live with a disability, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and 80 per cent of these are in countries in the majority global south. Finding ways to enable these people to engage in regenerative practices has the potential to improve the health of the planet and people. Putting people with disabilities at the heart of programme design ensures insightful and locally achievable responses to promote accessibility. It also promotes leadership skills of individuals with disabilities, a key driver for societal change: “I have developed skills in talking before a lot of people - a hundred people, or a thousand people - I talk with no fear.” Muhindo Josephat The 2018 Global Disability Summit Charter for Change stated to “Promote the leadership and diverse representation of all persons with disabilities to be front and centre of change; as leaders, partners and advocates. This includes the active involvement and close consultation of persons with disabilities of all ages.” The summit has prompted commitments from the global development sector, including DFID’s Strategy for Disability Inclusive Development 2018-23. We hope that with these commitments, new and emerging groups such as the Karambi Group of People with Disabilities will be funded and supported. Read more from the Karambi Group of People with Disabilities: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Karambi-Group-of-People-with-Disabilities-Kagpwds-1778601005724190/?_rdc=1&_rdr Website: http://www.kagpwd.org

Picture above: The team from Earth4Ever walk with tribal farmers in the Mandakini Forest. “When we started with the project, we were working toward doing 10 micro-Permaculture projects in the same area. But what happened when we got on the ground, we were surprised that not every farmer was jumping out of their seats saying, ‘Yes, make us a food forest!’. So we had to spread out geographically.” Komal Thakur is telling us about how Earth4Ever’s project has changed over time. We’re speaking at a Regenerosity Peer Learning Circle, hosted online in partnership with Re-Alliance. Regenerosity is a collaboration between the Buckminster Fuller Institute and the Lush Spring Prize, aiming to increase the flow of capital in aid of regeneration. Their Peer Learning Circles were co-designed by Re-Alliance, and are spaces where regenerative practitioners working on Regenerosity funded projects can come together and learn from one another’s experiences. Komal continues, “Each space has such different context and factors. It’s taking us a lot more time to design each space. They’re so different. Going from a rice field, to someone who works on a slope, to a third with a stream that floods three or four feet deep in monsoon season.” Often when organisations design their projects, no matter the amount of careful planning and community consultation that goes into it, things change once you get on the ground. It’s not just problems or challenges that can catalyse changes. Permaculture and other regenerative designs seek to create wide, ripple effects of positive outcomes, often having many unprecedented benefits. Instead of setting rigid project milestones and metrics in the project planning stage, how can we stay open to emergent possibilities, and make visible the unseen benefits of working with complexity? While we were talking, Preeti Virkar, an ecologist and participant in the Peer Learning Circles from Navdanya, had been sketching in her notebook. She had heard Komal’s talk of flooding and sloped land, and offered a solution. Sketch above: Preeti recommended a terraced approach to working with sloped land where lots of water falls. Using swales to slow water, and trees and shrubs on the edges of curves to slow, sink and store water. Preeti told us, “We have a lot of rainfall where I’m from. We plant bananas and other trees to help slow the water. You can also check the slope of the land and open up channels to direct the flow of water.” When you make changes to the land, it affects the environment around you, for better or worse. Aparna Bangia from Earth4Ever told us that when the land is mismanaged, it can create challenges for the whole community. Aparna tells us, “If one farmer channels flooding off their own land, it could simply divert flooding elsewhere and to more farms. Or if one farmer sprays harsh chemicals on their crops, it can create soil degradation and biodiversity loss in surrounding farms too.” Contrarily, when farmers start growing organically and stop using chemicals on their land, it can create tension in other farmers who believe it could bring pests or disease to the area. Working at community level, rather than simply engaging with one or two farmers in the community, can create huge benefits and help to avoid wider land mismanagement. Arnima from Tarun Bharat Sangh explained their method. Tarun Bharat Sangh are known for creating large water harvesting structures in dry Rajasthan, transforming whole landscapes to luscious green. “We hold water design meetings. The whole community are invited and involved. We show them how this rainwater harvesting structure will affect their farms, and how each farmer can interact with it.” Regeneration is not just a set of techniques. It invites us to learn from nature’s patterns and traditional wisdom. For many, this can mean challenging and unlearning some of the ways we engage with other people and the land, reshaping ways of thinking. Changes like that seem easier when you bring your community along with you. Regenerative farmers are no longer outliers if the whole community is involved. So how can we create space for transformations needed at community level? Preeti offered an example of how demonstration can create real change. “On one side of the road, there was one farmer growing traditional varieties of cotton, grown organically and in a biodiverse system. On the other side of the road was a farmer growing BT Cotton, with pesticides, and in a monocrop. And when there were adverse and changing weather conditions, the BT Cotton was infested with pests and many of the farmer’s crops failed, but the farmer growing in a biodiverse way had a healthy, abundant harvest.” After seeing these impacts, the farmer who used pesticides was eager to learn more and change practises. It’s a story we hear repeated in many contexts: seeing the tangible effects of regenerative approaches can be transformational. And it’s often not the metrics on a piece of paper that will change minds, but hearing stories from fellow farmers or seeing the abundance of positive effects oneself. What would it look like to create space for this emergence in the way we design our projects, and the way that we report? --- Re-Alliance hosts online learning spaces about Regeneration. We can also work with foundations and organisations to design monitoring and evaluation solutions that integrate regenerative principles. If this is something you are interested in, please email us for a consultation and quote at contact@re-alliance.org.

Words and images by Magnus Wolfe Murray, a Re-Alliance member currently working in Bangladesh. Above: Camp 26, just down the road from Shamplapur. Fences are going up to surround all the camps, making freedom of movement even harder. And the feeling of confinement is ever more real. Shamplapur is a town on the coast an hour or so drive south from Cox's Bazar. A river estuary emerges here; a town emerged generations ago. From the 1970s, Rohingya people came here to work in the fishing boats; more people came in the 90s, many of them refugees fleeing Myanmar's military horror. And again in this most recent refugee influx in 2017. Perhaps mindful of their pressure, possibly by local edict, the numbers remained relatively low, at around a few hundred families. By late 2017 there were several thousand refugee families. They rented land from local landlords for their shelters, they worked in the boats, the tea shops, they shopped in their markets. Children were born, they went to the local schools, were raised with the locals. They grew up and married into the local community, had kids, lived a life. A classic story of migration and settlement. Then, this year, the central Government in Dhaka decided they needed to shut down this integrated community altogether. To every extent possible the Government wants to prevent refugees becoming permanent here. And integration with the local community - a big no-no. So Shamplapur is the latest example to be set, and it's quite tragic to see entire communities dismantled, the people given notice and a few weeks to pack. Using a pretext of national security concerns (despite the lack of any security pressures here). Local businesses are furious, they've invested in larger boats, now they lose much of their labour. Shops and markets will lose half their trade. All those young people raised here, now being forced to leave. The Government isn't exactly forcing them at the point of a gun, but it certainly isn't informed nor voluntary movement - which is what we hold up globally as a basic principle for a decent approach to population movements. Above: When things couldn't really get much more difficult, people are forced to move again. So where will people go? Most of the Rohingya communities have left already, trucked off to different camps inland. And many others to a new island the Government has developed called Basanchar, from where it's said they cannot leave or return to the mainland. All that said, it's really hard for western governments to criticize or even raise concerns, when we do so little we can be proud of with refugees on our shores. Throughout 2017, the UK accepted a total of 6,212 refugees (during the height of the Syrian refugee crisis). Other asylum seekers who show up on the shores illegally are locked up in quite appalling centers, from where, like those Rohingya in Basanchar, they cannot leave. Above: Picking up the pieces - a family after relocation from "outside the fence" in camp 26, where they had to dismantle their shelter, with quite old bamboo and material which couldn't be re-used - meaning they were forced to buy most of it again. But look for a moment at how other countries deal with refugee communities. The French Government closed the camps in Calais with violence and abuse. Literally burning and bulldozing the refugees and migrants out. Australia is perhaps the worst offender with its harsh policies of sending asylum seekers to Nauru Island, for many years, where eventually human rights groups exposed extreme levels of mistreatment, sexual exploitation and unfathomable levels of despair and depression brought on by years in a kind of purgatory where you're not allowed to work, study or progress in life. Whereas other countries seem to have a much more reasonable approach. Uganda hosts some 1.4m refugees (mostly from South Sudan). They're allowed freedom of movement, they can work, study, farm the land. In Turkey, the world's largest refugee hosting country, has 4m, mostly people from Syria. Again, they're allowed to work and live relatively freely, given special ID cards. A Turkish Doctor I met recently said it had led to a degree of economic development as factories and agriculture had benefited from the increased labour market. Pakistan and Iran too, for decades have accepted millions of refugees - most of them working, renting homes and starting businesses. And Germany welcomed about 1.8m refugees and asylum seekers - despite the criticism sometimes used that they only accept well qualified refugees. So the struggle continues. Shamplapur settlement, also known as camp 25, is one of 34 camps in total. One can't get too engaged on only one. The old adage of winning a battle but losing the war, perhaps translated here as knowing what you cannot change, focusing on the things you can influence, and trying to keep a level head enough to know the difference. Above: An area where other refugees were settled - but into a sunken basin of land which is likely to flood when the rains start. Is this a disaster waiting to happen? Words and images by Magnus Wolfe Murray, a Re-Alliance member currently working in Bangladesh. Re-Alliance aims to promote a regenerative, place-based approach to settlement design. For some examples of what that can look like in different contexts, see our case studies page here.

Summary Working in three IDP camp sites in A’zaz and Jarablus in Northwest Syria, this pilot project tested the viability of creating vegetable gardens to grow food irrigated in part by harvested rainwater and grey water. 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. 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 to supplement their food growing guide for training the camp residents to successfully build gardens and grow food. 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. The pilot provided for a group of 12 children growing at school, 70 householders gardening outside their homes and 25 gardeners in the community gardens. 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. Background Research has shown the benefits of gardening to those living in temporary settlements by providing fresh and nutritious food, meaningful activity, a sense of belonging or home, and feelings of well-being, particularly in the wake of trauma. It has also shown how replenishing soils, creating healthy water cycles, planting trees and minimising waste can have an equally positive impact on both human and ecological health. In areas of limited rainfall and high temperatures, nearly all food crops will need additional irrigation water to supplement rainfall. By identifying and promoting simple, low tech options for capturing and re-using grey water and rain water for irrigation, and creating compost from food waste, growing food can become an accessible option for many households. Impact on Planet Creating vegetable gardens in refugee camps builds healthy soils through composting food wastes and sinking and storing water in the ground, improving the ecological health of the area. Plants encourage pollinating insects, a vital part of animal food webs, which add to the local biodiversity. Using grey water to grow food reduces the amount of waste water which has to be processed, reducing carbon emissions and the pollution associated with waste-disposal. Harvesting rain water holds water within the site and can reduce the damage created by run-off which can pour across sites, further degrading soils and damaging ecosystems. Growing plants is beneficial to supporting healthy water cycles by preventing soil erosion and increasing groundwater levels as well as by releasing water into the air through transpiration. As long as growing methods are organic - avoiding pesticide and fertiliser use and creating compost from local waste foods - growing food can be a carbon positive activity, actively reducing climate change by sequestering carbon in healthy soils and plant life. Impact on People Meaningful activity is an essential part of being a happy and healthy person. Work, whether paid or unpaid, can facilitate positive exchanges between people, strengthening communities, giving purpose, satisfaction and learning as well as a means to provide for basic needs. Many IDPs and refugees are not permitted or able to work, which can further erode the sense of identity that the trauma of becoming displaced can cause. In the absence of paid work, food growing projects can provide meaningful activity with tangible benefits. Designing, planting and tending a garden can create a feeling of home and ownership of place, improving mental health by bringing beauty and life into an otherwise barren and impersonal environment. Eating fresh, homegrown food can improve health and nutrition and allow people to create a taste of home by growing favorite foods that they may not otherwise have access to. Growing food can reduce household spending on food and creating compost from food waste and using grey water can further save money by reducing waste disposal costs. If surplus food is grown, it can also be sold or exchanged to supplement incomes. Sinking and storing rain water and using grey water can reduce the prevalence of standing water, often a breeding ground for waterborne and vector borne diseases, thereby creating healthier environments. Sharing knowledge about how to grow food without inputs in unfamiliar environments where the terrain may be different and the space reduced, will maximize yield for minimum cost. In the Syrian context we discovered that grey water reuse for food growing was commonly practiced before displacement so people were especially keen to start growing again and were innovative in their ideas for grey water reuse. Community gardens can strengthen community cohesion and can also be used to bring host and refugee communities together. School gardens were popular with children because they gave an opportunity to learn about the natural world outside the classroom and build skills for saving water and growing food that they could share with their families and continue at home. Regenerative Impact Root causes of mass migration often have links to climate change, water stress and the conflicts that arise from competing for increasingly scarce natural resources. It is a sad irony that refugee and IDP camps often perpetuate the problems of resource depletion and unsustainable practices in a bid to provide the vital services needed to keep people alive. Water is often trucked into camps and wastes pumped and trucked away, trees can be cut down for firewood and the earth cleared and compacted to make way for shelters and roads. It is, however, possible for human activity to improve and nurture the natural world. This often involves a process of turning ‘wastes’ into resources. Growing food using harvested water gives meaningful activity and nutritious food to people, while creating more beautiful green open spaces, reduces the financial and ecological costs of waste disposal and increases the biological health of the area. A regenerative approach uses planning and good design to make the best use of available resources and minimise the need for expensive inputs brought in from outside. Gardens need water and good soil. Capturing and reusing surplus water and turning organic waste into compost can provide a source of both and reduce the need for safe disposal of these. Scalability Our pilot projects showed that there is a high level of interest and engagement from camp residents to grow their own food and with few inputs gardens can be created and fresh food can be grown. Creating home gardens outside shelters is the easiest to achieve because it requires little land, less community co-ordination and simple water harvesting techniques can be undertaken with available resources. However, the volume of food produced is limited by the amount of land available. To grow at a larger scale requires plots of land to be put aside for community gardens or allotments. This is more easily done at the camp construction phase so that it can be placed alongside community buildings which can provide a supply of harvested grey and rainwater. Approaching the host community or local authorities may provide access to more land, and sharing land can help build relationships between communities, but does require coordination and facilitation. Replicability Promoting and advertising demonstration gardens which can be visited by local residents allows people to learn from others and replicate gardens outside their own shelters. This allows organic growth of ideas and ensures gardens continue to be constructed and maintained beyond the length of the project. What's Next for this Project? As part of the project a guide book was produced to encourage other INGOs to implement food growing projects in camps and settlements using harvested rain and grey water. We are actively looking for partners to trial this guide with please get in contact if you would like to participate. Our partner organisation, Syrian Academic Expertise, have produced a series of podcasts in Arabic to promote food growing within refugee and IDP camps and have been accessed by thousands of listeners. We are anticipating that the food growing projects within the existing camps will be continued and expanded, led by our partners Syrian Academic Expertise. Resources Guidelines for NGOs - Food Growing In Camps and Settlements: Collecting, Storing and Using Rainfall and Grey Water Guidelines for Camp and Settlement Residents - Gardening with Grey and Rain Water Presentations for Webinar Series: The Principles and Foundations of a Regenerative Response See the all the recordings of these webinars on our Youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBZ8nxAf-ykR9gIdwNPG91k8Mp6ucnTz8

What happened in the Re-Alliance network in 2022? What are the plans for 2023? As we look at the changes to our world in the past year, we can see that regeneration is needed now more than ever. In a world challenged by war, the increasing cost of living, and the worsening effects of the climate and nature crises, it has been an immensely challenging year for grassroots regenerative groups. And yet amidst these challenges, Re-Alliance members have guided the way in showcasing how community-led regenerative responses to disaster, displacement, and development can be truly transformative and impactful. Read on to out more about what our members have been doing over the past year, and what projects Re-Alliance has been working on. Regenerative Guidelines Projects In 2022, we began collaborating with eight member organisations to launch pilot regenerative projects in displacement contexts as part of our broader Regenerative Camps and Settlements Guidelines project. The learnings from the projects will inform our wider research into regenerative responses to disaster and displacement and create content for further learning materials and knowledge sharing aimed at promoting grass-roots, community led interventions, as well as aiming to influence mainstream INGO activities. Keep an eye on our social media, as a second round of funding may be possible in 2023. Tune in to Re-Alliance Radio In 2022, we launched Re-Alliance Radio, a podcast series focussed on applications of regenerative paradigms, principles, and practices to the humanitarian and development sectors. In our most recent episode we celebrated the achievements of some of our members. Thank you to Sarah from Green Releaf, Jerry from Fambidzanai, Samatha from Nourish All, Bemeriki from Rwamwanja Rural Foundation, Noah from YICE Uganda, Bee from Strawbuild, and Paulinho from Unidos Social Centre. "I witnessed the true power of Permaculture for Refugees: community building and peace building." - Samantha Koches Webinars and meetings In the past year we also hosted some communities of practice alongside our sister organisation, Regenerosity, who focus on regeneration in philanthropy, and philanthropy for regeneration. We facilitated two geographical networks of amazing regenerative practitioners, in India and in East Africa, and supported our colleagues in hosting another Peer Learning Circle in the Amazon region. The peer group from India recently hosted a webinar for the Re-Alliance community, sharing their experience of being a part of this peer learning process. Looking toward 2023 Members' profile pages A core aim of Re-Alliance is to raise the profile of regenerative approaches to disaster, displacement and development. We aim to achieve this through facilitating the collection, production, and presentation of evidence and stories from regenerative practitioners to showcase the effectiveness and value of regenerative work. We've listened to feedback from our members that often those involved in implementing these approaches may not have much time to collect stories and evidence of their own work. As part of this we are creating members' profile pages on our website where member organisations have their own, individual pages. This will be a space to showcase the work of our members, and will be able to be searched like a directory, especially great for those who don’t already have much of an online presence. We aim for this to grow in its scope and functionality over time. If you are a member and would like to be included in this directory, we have created a short form in which you can enter all of the relevant information. We will then follow up with you to share a draft page, to ask for any further information, and to discuss opportunities for case studies and articles that we can co-create to support and showcase your work. 2023's new program of events In line with our mission to showcase and advance regenerative practice across the sectors of humanitarianism and development, Re-Alliance is pleased to announce the launch of two new series of themed events, each running bimonthly. Community of Practice Sessions invite you to join your peers in congregating around a guiding theme. Ask questions, showcase your work, share your knowledge and expertise, discuss your challenges, and receive inspiration and practical tips from the wisdom of the network. Each workshop in the Designing Regenerative Change Series focuses on a different stage of a regenerative design process. Grounded in regenerative paradigms and principles, and contextualised with inspiring real world examples from Re-Alliance members, you will be guided on steps you can take to bring your regenerative vision to life. A shareable poster outlining this programme can be found here. Additional events will be added during the year in response to member feedback and emergent themes. Visit re-alliance.org/events to keep up to date with all of our events and to add them to your own calendar. These events are open to all, and Re-Alliance members receive additional materials. If you are not yet a member, find out more and join our network at re-alliance.org/join. Wishing you and your communities an abundant, fruitful and safe 2023.

Micronutrient deficiency is an enormous problem in refugee settings. Transforming refugees’ food systems through the scaling up of kitchen gardening and fortifying relief food with nutrient-dense spices can help improve the nutritional quality of staple foods. Globally, spices are indispensable in the daily diet and play an important role in the socio-cultural setting of different communities. In new research by a group of academics, including Re-Alliance mentor Andrew Adam Bradford, forty turmeric and curry powder samples were collected from markets in East Africa to assess the potential of spices for providing micronutrients. The samples were analysed to determine the levels of micronutrients including potassium (K), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn) and strontium (Sr). The study aimed to determine if a small portion of spices of between 4 and 5 grams would contribute to an adequate intake (AI) or recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for selected minerals. The results showed a range of contributions of turmeric and curry powder to AI/RDA for Potassium, Calcium and Zinc of between 0.48 and 4.13% while turmeric was identified to contribute more than 20% AI/RDA for manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe). The report suggests that turmeric and curry powder from East Africa are good, low cost sources of minerals and that turmeric in particular should be more widely popularised and recommended as a contribution to nutrition in refugee populations. Read the full report here: