Sustainability Projects & Community Development
Apart from trying to inspire people from all walks of life who come to our centre for work, “real” food, meetings, leisure, or trainings, the ecoLODGy team is also engaged with the community and in the field of sustainability education on many other levels.
We have a number of programs to support and educate local farmers on practices in organic farming, agroforestry and permaculture. Please learn more about them below:
Shade, Nutrition and Herbal Support for Users of the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Guardian Shelter
We have been asked by our partner, the local NGO Chira Fund, to help make the guardian shelter opposite the main public hospital in Blantyre a little more amenable for its users by planting trees for longer term shading of the previously completely bare outside spaces.
ecoLODGy would not be ecoLODGy if we would have just said yes to this 😉 but of course, first needed to analyse the real needs on the ground and see how we could integrate permaculture principles – one of them is, to always try harness multiple benefits from an added element to the place – for example by the way we chose a variety, a location for it, etc.
This place is a place of great need and it is not less than heart wrenching, but also in some ways inspiring to spend time here. Our gratitude goes to the Chira Fund team who are actually caring about the people using this facility and have made it already something very different to what it was before, for example by putting in more decent toilet facilities. With our humble contribution, we are hoping to be able to enhance the experience and make those dire times of caring for a sick relative or friend or undergoing an chemotherapy, at least a little more comfortable.
Our activities here include:
- planting 50+ productive (fruit and nut) trees a with companion plant guild (which can be easily expanded later to intercrop vegetables if wanted), 20+ soil enhacing trees and several live bamboo hedges
- establishing a composting area with proper guidance for the local compound caretaker but also any of the users that may feel called to spend the time creating or contributing to some beauty and light in this place
- setting up a medicinal herb nursery for immune boosting support, with signboards and trainer trainings for the caretaker staff
Satemwa Permaculture School
In the outskirts of Thyolo, about half an hour drive from our site, lies the last familiy-owned tea estate of Malawi. As a registered fairtrade producer and a responsible corporate citizen, Satemwa Tea & Coffee Estates take great cae for the welfare of their workers and engage in multiple collaborations to improve general lifelihoods, environmental conservation as well as education for the thousands of families living in and/or working for the estate.
The ecoLODGy Team is grateful for having been provided with the opportunity to showcase the first Fairtrade Africa (through Fairtrade Finland) sponsored Permaculture School project in Malawi. The Standard 7 class we started working with to develop and implement an edible permaculture oriented landscape at the school early this year is comprised of 154 pupils-
We are exploring various rainwater harvesting techniques and have a natural greywater treatment in the built space. The water management system fits within the overall permaculture scheme. Consulting and advice is offered in the design of sustainable water management systems from ecolodgy and our partners.
Community Agroforestry Farmers Support Programme
Since 2017, we have been helping 40 farmers and their families in five villages in our surrounding communities to build a better way to farm in harmony with nature while reducing their dependence on expensive chemical inputs, and realizing better prices and discover formerly untapped markets for their organic produce.
This initiaive was possible with the financial support of Naturefund, a German non-profit nature conservation organization, and in collaboration with the local NGO Renew’N’Able Malawi who added a firewood saving component as part of the holistic approach of the project.
Through a series of workshops and refresher trainings spread out over two years, as well as practical demonstration plots that were established by the two cohorts in common work at each of the participants honestead farms, as well as participation in farm and family fairs etc., the CAFP enabled the 40 local community subsistence farmers to switch from conventional field farming to more efficient and diversified organic dynamic agroforestry in parts of their farms. The program included training them as stewards of sustainable land use and conservation in their communities and in the river valley adjacent to the site.
Sustainable Buildings Demo & Exhibit
Our buildings at site are living examples of integrating local materials and “handmade” techiques into the built space.
Water Management
We are exploring various rainwater harvesting techniques and have a natural greywater treatment in the built space. The water management system fits within the overall permaculture scheme. Consulting and advice is offered in the design of sustainable water management systems from ecolodgy and our partners.
Building & Living with Nature
The ecoLODGy site itself combines traditional and sustainable building techniques and acts as a working laboratory on sustainable architecture and design. A number of modern buildings and features of sustainable construction that use largely on-site resources but could be made and adopted anywhere in the modern world, coexist with buildings constructed using traditional manual methods.
We are working on expanding the collection of beautiful and low-impact structures and we welcome collaboration with like minded architects, engineers, builders and DIY enthusiasts.