Seed Banks are cooperative constructs where local seeds are stored, saved and borrowed out. Our seeds is our heritage. They are used to local climates and they are thus adapted to locally harsh conditions. We need to empower our communities to go back to their roots and restore the culture of the use of indigenous seeds. Farmers can be empowered to come together and share seeds in different forums, but the most sustainable one is where farmer groups establish operational seed security systems … Read more
Lack of water in desert Wise use of water for agriculture
La fougara est un systeme d'irrigation de l'eau invente pour permettre de quantifier l'eau necessaire pour les differentes plantations dans le desert. C'est un systeme complexe et tres ingenieux qui remonte quelques centaines d'annees. C'est un systeme unique dans le Sahara que l'on trouve dans les Oasis du Gourara pres de Timumoun. Ce systeme d'irrigation est inspire des Qanats en Iran. … Read more
Water Harvesting: Swale / Sagia Water Harvesting in Drylands
Water is very precious especially in arid and semi arid regions. Every single drop of rain must therefore be saved and not wasted, evaporation should be decreased, and fertile topsoil should be prevented from running off with the rain, therefore loosing nutrients and causing soil erosion. To prevent this, Sagias or Swales can be implemented to slow down water after a rain and to hold it for the longest period possible for it to sink in slowly and hydrate the landscape. Swales are ditches dug … Read more
Drying mechanism for rice Building drying box from local materials
This link features instructions on how to build a fixed batch heated air drying bin from local materials. The goal of this design was to create a dryer that could maintain rice quality at a low capital and operating cost yielding a reasonably high dry time while remaining accessible to small-scale processing. … Read more
Mushroom Permaculture Mushroom cultivation
Mushroom growing can be done very low-cost and low-input. Additionally, it needs relatively little space. As the process does not happen on fields but in bags or jars, it does not require much or high soil quality, nor nearly any external input apart from the initial compost. It can therefore create economic opportunities in areas where other agricultural activity is hard. The only important thing regarding mushroom cultivation is that it is done properly. Which means that the sterilisation … Read more
Creating a Home Graywater System Creating a Home Graywater System
This video is a nice example, if you want to recycle and reuse your grey water. Important information starting at 5:50 min. … Read more
Solar Composting Toilet Dry Toilets
This video will explain you one of the differents ways you could built your own composting toilet. It is a special example, because it works with solar energy. … Read more
Healthy Snack Ideas Eating between the meals
In this video you will find some nice healthy snack ideas, which could for example be usefull for people on diet. - Kale Chips - Granola - Frozen Fruit - Seaweed (Dulse and Nori) - Avocados (with a fast and easy preparation) - Chia Seed Crackers … Read more
How to Grow Fresh Air How to renew the air in an enclosed space
Kamal Meattle comes from New Dheli, India a place where the quality of air is one of the worst. He looked at plants and their level of fresh air output and then planted numerous plants in a big block of flats. This building now has the cleanest air in all of new Dheli. This video will describe some of the plants used and the way they were used. … Read more
Water Harvesting The Ancient Ingenuity of Water Harvesting
In this video Anupam Mishra describes methods with which water was and is still collected in areas with extremely little rain. These methods however have been devised 1000s of years ago but are still deemed more effective than most modern methods. … Read more