We’re thrilled to announce that APOPO organized the first-ever course in Syntropic Farming in Ethiopia following on the success of APOPO’s pilot training in Tanzania.
This initiative is part of APOPO’s HeroTREEs project. The course was a combination of theory classes and practical experience with mostly hands-on experience under the guidance of Permaculture and Syntropic Farming expert Roland van Reenen, who has led numerous similar workshops in East African countries and the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao.
From November 14th to 16th, APOPO’s TB program in Ethiopia hosted a Syntropic Farming training, including the implementation of the first Syntropic Garden in Ethiopia at the APOPO office, on the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) compound in Addis Ababa. We had 48 participants during the training, including 15 APOPO staff, 20 AHRI staff, and 12 representatives and experts from government agricultural institutes, agricultural NGOs, and community organizations.
The Syntropic method raised many questions from the seasoned agricultural scientists that participated, but as their questions were answered and they took part in the live demonstration – they saw firsthand the science behind the methodology.
Due to a high altitude of almost 2,400 meters, we selected species that can withstand cold night temperatures. The team planted 20 avocado, 20 papaya, 13 neem, 10 plum, 5 apple, 20 banana, 5 peach and 40 coffee trees. In addition to that they planted potatoes, onions, carrots, ginger, zucchini, maize, sorghum and beans. The soil was very hard to dig, many congrats to the team for making it happen!
We hope this initiative will spark the interest in Syntropic Farming in Ethiopia, increase food security, facilitate ecological restoration, and boost our HeroTREEs program. We thank all participants for their keen interest and hard work, Dr Negussie Beyene for facilitating the event and inviting our excellent coach Roland van Reenen. We are very much looking forward to seeing this food forest thrive!
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