Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge; Cultural Immersion and the Permaculture Eco Lodge

SFEL grew out of a long held desire, as a traveler, to bridge the gap between the traveler and the local community, while assisting local grass roots development. I had originally trained as an ecologist, but found scientific academia to be sterile and inaccessible to most people. Then I discovered Permaculture; a system of design for addressing human needs by harnessing and promoting, not opposing and destroying, ecological processes. Permaculture offers a solution to both the over-consumption of the west and the under-consumption of the developing world, so is just as relevant to the Westerner as the African. On this basis I knew that incorporating Permaculture into an eco-tourism project could produce a fantastic result. In 2005 and 2006 I travelled widely in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa searching for a likely location for a project. Six months on the road, I came across Ethiopia. Rising from the desert wastes of Sudan, came the massive rolling climes of a green and fertile land, completely at odds with our western misconception. Yet, with GDP among the lowest in Africa and rampant poverty persisting, Ethiopia is a land of huge untapped potential. Permaculture offers to unlock that potential.

SFEL brings the international community of travelers and the international Permaculture movement into the cause of introducing PC into Ethiopia. By combining eco-tourism into the project it gives people different options on how to participate: They can come as tourists and experience the local farming culture, enjoy it for what it is, and contribute in cash by paying for our services; Or they can stay on with us and participate in our initiatives on the ground, contribute their skills and knowledge to the cause of assisting local community development by volunteering; Or they can themselves learn Permaculture. Furthermore, through our Cultural Immersion Programs, we seek to get visitors to spend longer in Konso, go deeper into the culture, learn more about its norms and etiquettes, learn basic greetings, partake in a range of activities and interact directly with the Konso villagers in a meaningful way to promote mutual respect.

In August 2007 I was granted a 25 year lease on the 2Ha plot of land that would become SFEL and we began working on the site. In December 2008 we formally opened with a large cultural music festival. Many people participated in realizing this fantastic project, which grew out of one traveler’s daydreams. It has been a lot of hard work, sweat and blisters to get this far, but when we saw over 1000 local people turn up at our official opening, singing dancing and making merry in celebration of what we had all achieved, we all knew it had been worth it. So far we have hosted 4 Permaculture Design Courses and begun follow up initiatives in 8 Konso schools. There remains much work to do, but now at least we know it can really work and we have the support of the community behind us.

SFEL’s Cultural Immersion Program currently requires an intern/consultant to develop upon plans emerging from our extensive research and community contacts and induct local guides on outcomes, including appropriate customer, community and environmental care. Once fully developed, experience sharing workshops and shadowing will allow other guides/operators to take on our approach elsewhere.

Regarding Permaculture; the 72h PDC is the standard induction into the PC movement, given to lodge/hotel owners and staff, it allows them to implement PC on their own sites. To coordinate and represent the Ethiopian movement a national Permaculture Association requires a full-time secretary/coordinator for administration, at least initially.