The IPC9 Conference happened on Friday 6th of November 2009 at Kumbali in Lilongwe, Malawi.
More than 300 participants attended the conference which brought together famers, government officials, teachers, children, extension and development workers among other stakeholders.
The Permanent Secretary for Nutrition and HIV and AIDS in the Office of the President and Cabinet for Malawi, Dr. Mary Shawa officially opened the conference. In her speech, Dr Shawa expressed support for Permaculture which she said was a useful tool for achieving human well being.
The speakers at the conference included Dr Terry Leah from Newcastle University in Australia, Nicholas Heinamann and John Nzira from South Africa and a drama performance on the promise of Permaculture capped the proceedings. An appearance by Bill Mollison live on the screen via satellite link was very special. The conference also included a variety of informative displays put up by participants from all over the world.
Some learning points from the IPC9 convergence and conference
- Permaculture in Africa is about putting food on the table. It is also about livelihoods and health and everything in between.
- Permaculture design in Africa focuses on water and a lot more needs to be done in this area.
- Design for local self sufficiency in energy is also important.
- The future is here and it is in school now and one of the best things that we can do for the future is to equip the younger generations with land-use design skills and to empower them with an appropriate mind set.
- Africa is rich and has the potential to lead the world out of this mess. The barrier between Africa and prosperity is in the minds of its people. Education is therefore key in moving forward and the more home grown this can be the better. This scenario is also relevant to many other parts of the world.
Information from the IPC9 is being added to the IPC9 website.