With the link between deforestation and food security increasingly apparent, EduPlant is delighted that the theme of this year’s World Environment Day on 5th June is “Forests – Nature at your Service.” A Food & Trees for Africa programme, EduPlant, is the South African schools’ food gardening and greening programme and competition.  It teaches schools how to produce food using resource-efficient permaculture methods. To mark World Environment Day, EduPlant will be running a series of permaculture gardening workshops around South Africa. 

“Deforestation is a direct threat to food security, particularly in impoverished areas, and permaculture is a way to address this threat,” says Jeunesse Park, founder of Food & Trees for Africa.

Forests feed our rivers and are essential to supplying the water for nearly 50% of our largest cities.  They create and maintain soil fertility and help to regulate the often-devastating impact of storms, floods and fires.  In the developing world, 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their food, fuel, and livelihoods.  Yet more than 36 million acres of natural forest are destroyed by human activity each year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

“The real economic value of forests is much greater than the short-term benefits of logging or clearing land for agriculture.  In the longer run, the loss of biodiversity, habitat, and natural resources will affect food production in both developed and developing countries,” says Park.

Possibly the most serious consequence of deforestation is global warming.  Almost 20 percent of all global carbon dioxide emissions are caused by deforestation.  “The harmful relationship between deforestation and climate change not only puts the global food production system at risk, it also impedes our ability to maintain a healthy society.”

 Permaculture is a world-renowned system of sustainable gardening and farming. It combines plants, animals, buildings, water, landscapes and people in ways that ensure that the particular environment generates more energy than is used.

Through EduPlant, educators and children learn to recycle waste and nutrients. They collect rainwater, conserve resources and create gardening tools from waste products. They make their own compost, brew natural pest repellents, inter-plant crops, practice companion planting and attract birds and other useful creatures to their school environment. They experience the satisfaction of tending abundant gardens and reaping good food. The EduPlant programme teaches communities the skill they need to provide for their nutritional and medicinal needs by naturally growing their own food and herbs.

“We all know how important good food is, but it is estimated that 35% of South Africans are vulnerable to food insecurity and 1.5 million of our children under nine years suffer from malnutrition. Obviously this greatly affects their health and compromises their potential to develop and learn well,” says Park.

“Food security is one of the most important ways to help alleviate poverty in our country. Through EduPlant, educators and learners gain important insight into the role that fresh fruit and vegetables play in a balanced, healthy diet. They also become aware of the impact of good nutrition in dealing with the challenges of HIV/Aids,” Park concludes.