Permaculture and Sustainable Organic Farming in Zanzibar

Permaculture is an approach to land management that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking.

In Zanzibar, you can do volunteering or an internship with an international foundation that has a large green campus at the ocean on which it operates a school, a vocational training centre for women and social enterprises including eco-tourism activities.

The foundation's permaculture garden includes 5 different zones that cover most aspects of permaculture farming and gives volunteers and interns the opportunity to learn about the permaculture approach to regenerative agriculture.

There are generally 3 layers of coverage with coconut trees on the top of the canopy, banana and neem trees in the middle and plants like corn, aloe vera and many others on the lower levels. The herbal garden is geometrically designed in the shape of an Indian mandala, growing arugula, carrots, coriander, cabbage, nuts and many other vegetabables, fruits, herbs and spices. There is also a plant nursery and chicken food is grown in a pond. Cows are kept for milking. Chicken are kept for eggs and there are rabbits, ducks, dogs and cats. Soil is generated through composting food waste, manure and organic waste materials.

Most of the food ingredients served to volunteers, tourists and team members at the project are sourced from the permaculture garden.

Local children, youth and women are trained in sustainable organic farming. The project has a licensed and fully trained permaculture instructor. You can also assist with these training activities.

If you are interested, besides permaculture farming, you can also teach other subjects during workshops and camps such as STEM, arts and economics; you can assist with community work and you can assist the foundation in administrative tasks.