And finally the SOLUTION to the conflict

(Exert from my independent research paper)

Nonetheless, I do recognize that global patterns are shifting (growing population and growing percentage of urban population) regardless if the changes are beneficial. Thus, traditional agriculture is becoming harder and harder to maintain and justify (its productivity is generally just enough to meet the nutritional needs of the local, rural population) (Sachs). But on the other hand, industrial agriculture takes the completely opposite approach to traditional agriculture and has its multitude of negative consequences (Traditional Agriculture: Overview). There has to be a solution for an agricultural system that can produce very high yields, but at the same time is beneficial for the land and the people. I propose that permaculture principles can be used and applied as the solution to the problem at hand.

Not only is permaculture intensively productive, it gives the land a sort of permanence. This is because permaculture invests in the land for the long term, unlike industrial agriculture. You can grow a lot on a small piece of land in a permaculture system for multiple reasons. These reasons include crop stacking (which create shade and microclimates, thus reducing the need for intensive water use—it also places a large variety of plants in a small area, mimicking nature and thus preventing crop destruction from insects and disease); using local crop varieties for disease/insect resistance and reducing water input, crop rotation, perpetual improvement of the soil with the utilization of cover crops and compost, the strategic planting of productive trees that will not only increase the productivity of the land (stacking), but also add a permanence to the site that only long-living trees can give. With permaculture, you are able to harvest a variety of products throughout the year insuring economic sustainability (if one crop fails you can rely on other crops) (Mollison).

To me, a permaculture is the ideal solution for the problem of our current agricultural paradigm. This permaculture solution is supported by my personal experience with this paradigm in Guédé Chantiers. From what I learned traditional agriculture is more fundamental. It is grown on a subsistence basis and generally has little to no outside inputs. It relies on using the Earth’s natural systems of fertility and productivity without adding intensive human techniques. For example, in Guédé people have traditionally planted their crops on the banks of the river after the flooding of the rainy season. This provides natural fertility for their crops without having to provide outside inputs (Sy). Also, traditionally people in Guédé cultivated wild rice varieties. Therefore, the cultivated rice would perpetually cross with the wild rice, thus producing a high level of species diversity (Pame). On the flipside, industrial agriculture in Guédé is rampant and produces a very high yield of crops. However, farmers have become so dependent upon and exploited by chemical inputs that many of them end up using 9/10th of their profit to pay for the chemicals that they have used (Fall). Additionally, the health of the land and the people is decreased.

And thus, for our project in Guédé we decided to create a permaculture garden to begin to experiment with the possibilities of greatly improving the current agricultural paradigm. And I believe we succeeded. We showed the youth how to improve the fertility and consistency of the soil through the rysosphere method (See Field Research section of paper for an explanation); we demonstrated water conservation through the goutte-á-goutte method (See Field Research section of paper for an explanation); and we gave our plot an increased biological diversity through the creation of niches and microclimates by plant stacking and multi-cropping. And while this was all done on a very small, school garden scale, I believe that the same permaculture principles can be replicated and increased throughout Guédé in order to positively change the current agricultural paradigm. It is a long shot, but with the right sensitization, continuation, local realizations, and luck I believe that this is a real possibility for a brighter future not only for Guédé, but the entire world and its future development.