Permaculture Program with Bontle Bahao
Permaculture Apprenticeship Program
The Apprenticeship Program not only equips participants with valuable skills but also fosters leadership and financial independence.
This partnership works to ensure young women are positioned to become change agents in their communities, using their expertise to improve livelihoods and promote sustainable practices.
Year 1- Foundations of Permaculture
Students learn ecology and how to use permaculture techniques to work with nature. Students learn how to design farming to maximize production, techniques such as Mulching to protect the soil from erosion,No-row gardening, Reintegrating waste as resources
Harvesting rainwater
Year 2- Animal Husbandry and Business Skills
Advanced permaculture techniques are taught with a primary focus on working in the community to help others develop gardens. Each student will work at Tsungirirai to support the garden and begin with supporting C4C families in the increase of food security.
Year 3- Practicum and Land Development
Students spend their last year cultivating and setting up their own land and learning about animal income generating projects, students have duck ponds, chicken runs, rabbit projects and learn ways to incorportate small stock into sustainable food production.
Owning land in Zimbabwe holds transformative power for women, particularly in terms of economic independence, social status, and personal empowerment.
The Power of Land Ownership
By providing young women pieces of land, this unique program has both short and long term impacts for our C4C Scholars and their families in the below ways:
Economic Empowerment: Permaculture training paired with land ownership provides the tools for a sustainable source of income and improves their livelihoods.
Social Status:
In Zimbabwe, land ownership has traditionally been male-dominated. When women own land, it enhances women's standing within their families and communities.
Food Security and Family Well-being:
Women often prioritize family needs, and owning land enables them to grow food crops, improving household food security. This contributes to better nutrition and health for their families.
Resilience Against Vulnerability: Land provides a safety net in times of crisis, offering a stable resource when other income sources fail.
Inheritance and Legacy:
Land ownership ensures that women can pass assets to their children, creating generational wealth and breaking cycles of poverty. It also empowers them to participate in decision-making processes in their communities and governance structures.
Bontle Bahao Trust
Read more about the non-profit founded by C4C alumna Linda Gabriel. The name Bontle Bahao, an affirmative SeSotho saying meaning "Your Beauty," reflects the organization’s mission to empower women and youth in rural Zimbabwe through sustainable permaculture and agroecology initiatives.
Techniques in Sustainable Farming
Azole Ponds
Students learn techniques such as the Azole Pond, which is a easy and free way to supplement food for the duck and chicken projects!
Sustainable Design
Students plan and design permaculture gardens, incorporating elements like raised beds, swales, and composting systems to maximize efficiency and productivity.
Living Fences
Using living fences reduced the need to buy fencing materials and simultaneously improved soil using nitrogen-fixing plants or mulching.
Sustainable Livestock Management
Animal keeping is an integral part of permaculture practices. Students are taught how to integrate agriculture and livestock that are kept. Manure is brought to the fields, and the residues from the fields to the animal. The cycle in this way relates land, animal and people. A typical choice of small livestock for the home garden includes poultry, goats and rabbits.
Current C4C Girls in the Apprenticeship Program
Our latest and best photos
Blessed
is in her 3rd year of the program showed here with her first watermelon! She will be developing her land and starting and income generating project.
BEEKEEPING GROUP
This program has been an incredible success, as four C4C students and program alumni have already managed to set up 30 more than beehives.
Ratchel
is entering year 2 of the program, she will be working on an internship and choosing her land.
Testimonials
Linda has provided C4C Day long educational Workshops for C4C Scholars and Guardians with children at Tsungirirai as well as running the apprenticeship program.
"My daughter and I came for a weeklong workshop and learned projects to support a household garden at our home!"
" This program provided me with the skills and land to provide food for me and my family and the business skills to be hired as a salesperson!"
The skills we learned enabled us to set up 20 bee hives in our village. We are now making money by selling the honey!"
"I spent 6 months learning permaculture before I began my degree in Developmental Studies. I hope to start a project combining these to help people in the refugee camp to grow their own food."