Permaculture Solutions Against Land Degradation

Project Details & Results

Project Description

In Armenia, more than 80 percent of land is exposed to degradation due to industrial agriculture, unsustainably designed human settlements and pollution. This has led to local food insecurity, higher food prices, contribution to climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The project proposes permaculture approach as a simple, accessible and inexpensive approach to solve these issues. This approach is gaining popularity across the world, however, it remains virtually undiscovered by the people of Armenia. To start introducing the solutions offered by permaculture to Armenia, the project aims at educating and empowering youth through training modules developed for high school students. It will teach them the principles and ethics of permaculture, providing practical tools and mindset to revive the abandoned land next to their schools and sustainably grow an abundance of food for their communities in small spaces.

The project team will create the first Armenian training course on permaculture. Based on this course gamified steps will help students to transform the abandoned areas surrounding their school. Thanks to online content on permaculture, such as practical exercises, tests and multimedia, the youth will develop technical skills to create their own permaculture design for a specific area. The project will back the youth project initiatives on permaculture by advertising, finding the respective experts and providing management, PR and fundraising support.

The project will work in the Tatev community with a possibility to expand further.

Project Results

The project will produce the following results:

• 700 sq m of land revived through the principles of permaculture, the yield in 2 years will include 150 types of plants, both annuals and perennials, honey and eggs;
• 60 young participants gained knowledge and skills in permaculture, skills in critical thinking, creativity, cooperation, communication and project management to help them further with their own agricultural projects;
• the yield is sold to local businesses to cover costs for the next years and ensure sustainability;
• created online platform with interactive content on permaculture in Armenian is used by other schools as well;
• awareness on permaculture among youth in Armenia is raised due to creating micro-learning content on social media, including 15 social media reels.