Penyalahan Community Food Forest

Local need

Penyalahan has land that can be managed collectively, but water is scarce in the dry season and some families need affordable protein. A layered food forest lets one plot produce fruit, tubers, vegetables, eggs and fish while improving the soil and providing habitat for birds.

Activities

• Pump-testing the well before the rains; ponds are only built once the water supply is proven.
• A 2,200 m² layered food forest: fruit and starch trees, bananas, tubers, rhizomes and household medicinal plants.
• Improved village chickens rotated through four paddocks under trees; laying ducks kept separate.
• Gourami and catfish ponds, azolla tanks for supplementary feed and rabbits for manure.
• Battery-free solar pump, a tank at the highest point and gravity flow to the beds.
• Half of the chicken eggs go to pregnant women and toddlers through the village health post.

Cycles inside the garden

1. 1WaterRain and the well fill the tank and ponds; pond water is reused for irrigation.
2. 2FeedAzolla and garden greens supplement feed for fish, poultry and rabbits.
3. 3NutrientsManure, pond sludge and kitchen scraps become compost and liquid fertiliser.
4. 4HabitatFlowers, fruit and shrubs feed and shelter birds that help control pests.

What we track

• Food harvested by food group and eggs distributed
• Hours worked per person (designed to stay under 6 hours a week)
• Daily water volume and well level
• Bird and plant species observed

These are the things assessed during the programme, not verified results. Results are reported after delivery and checks.

Ways to collaborate

• Nutrition and food-security donors and CSR partners.
• Community health centres and village health posts for egg distribution.
• Other villages wanting to copy the household garden package.