In most places, people have been plowing their fields for many generations, and the
nutrients in the soil get less and less, and that's why some fields become infertile. So, to bring back the fertility, we are now using the tool of animals.
...we've taken away the different kinds of grass, we've taken away the different
kinds of animals, we've taken away the different kinds of plants... we have created desert by the way we were behaving towards the soil... everyone's life depends on the soil — that soil has to be alive for us to live. It has to be covered... with soil cover, everything comes back: you will have the water sink into the ground to recharge the boreholes (the water table), you will have the rivers flow, you will have different kinds of insects and animals living, you will have different species of grasses and trees because the soil is alive.
HMI Affiliates, Africa
Holistic Management Africa
Holistic ManagementInternational has worked on the Africa continent for over 20 years in a variety of projects. Over the years our work with international development organizations and local villagers has addressed the needs of food security and local ownership in the results of development projects. Likewise, our work with agricultural producers has demonstrated how Holistic Management® improves natural resource management and the ability of people to produce a living from the land while improving land health.
Africa's Holistic Management Learning Site: Dimbangombe Ranch
This 6,500-acre property is a Holistic Managementlearning site managed by the Africa Centre for Holistic Management, but it is also a working ranch. Dimbangombe is ideally situated a few miles west of the Hwange Communal Lands in what is known as the Matetsi area of Zimbabwe.
World Vision Kenya
World Vision Australia, in conjunction with World Vision Kenya, has awarded Holistic Management International $216,000 to provide cutting edge natural resource management training to Maasai community members and leaders in the Loodariak Area Development Program, approximately 36 miles southwest of Nairobi. This project began July 2005 and continued through June 2008.
This development area covers approximately 540 square miles with an estimated population of 17,000 people. Livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep are the Maasai’s primary source of income, and land degradation is on the increase.
Kenya has 2 million people chronically hungry with over 5 million during times of drought. Subsistence farmers account for over 50 percent of the total poor and 80 percent of the population do not have sufficient livestock to meet basic needs, and thus frequently depend on relief.
This project is targeted at assisting 1,500 Maasai households to use their animals to restore deteriorating grasslands and water supplies and to create the means to provide for their own food needs and reduce the dependency on international relief monies.
Community Dynamics Southern Africa
Community Dynamics is an organization of Holistic Management® Certified Educators from southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa) who provide training and consulting services for agricultural producers, community projects, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, and other entities. To contact Community Dynamics, contact Ian Michell-Innes at: info@communitydynamics.net.