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NICCO

Examples of Granted Projects

Agro Forestry Based of the Principles of Permaculture -Vietnam-

Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development(NICCO)
Chairman, Satoyo Ono

Introduction of the Project Site

Dong Phoung,where NICCO is set up, is located 330 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, 1,050 m above sea level, in the mid-plateau area known to be one of Vietnam's leading coffee producing districts.

Once abundant in nature, this region is experiencing increased forest degradation due to cultivation and tree felling for farmland expansion causes, thus bringing forth environmental issues including the extinction of plant species-and soil erosion and degradation. In Dong Phoung, as well, rivers turn reddish brown from earthflow during the rainy season while sand and dust fill the air during the dry season.

NICCO has assumed the solution of these problems, which primarily are supposed to be prevented by forests, and for this cause we have been working since 1993 to regenerate forests on 2,340 ha of land leased from the Vietnamese government.

The Introduction of Permaculture


Australian specialists introducing the theory of permaculture to villagers

With this background, we have continued our forest regeneration project since 1993. Recently, we have come to strongly feel that we need to aim not only at local environmental conservation but also the improvement of the living standards of the people who suffer poverty. In order to simultaneously work towards at both goals, we decided in 1999 to newly introduce permaculture methods. Permaculture is an in Australian-born environmental design - an agroforestry system that gives consideration to sustainability, environment, humans and life.

In more concrete terms, we arranged a kitchen garden covered with mulch and a banana circle, which reuses raw waste and domestic wastewater as fertilizer for bananas, around the house. In coffee cultivation, we abandoned monocultural methods for a method where diverse types of trees, including legume, a nitrogen-fixing crop, fruit trees, endangered species and sweet potato, a cover crop (a plant that protects the soil by covering the ground surface), are grown together. This enables us to foster a multi-tiered forest encompassing the functions of effective space utilization, pest and disease control and weed control. On the mountainside, we dug swales along the contours to catch the rainwater running down the slopes and let it gradually seep into the ground for plants to absorb. This will also prevent earthflow.

Seeking Dissemination among Villagers


A banana circle set up based on the principles of permaculture

In order to disseminate this system among villagers, we have had specialists give lectures about the theory of permaculture. Some villagers have actually begun practicing this method. Consideration for the environment is a part of the ethics of permaculture. NICCO seeks to grant the local people a sustainable life in harmony with nature.


Contact

Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development
Address: 161 Rokkakudori, Shinmachi nishi-hairu, Rokkakucho
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture 604-8217
TEL: +81-75-241-0681
FAX: +81-75-241-0682
E-mail: nicco@kiwi.ne.jp
URL: http://www4.kiwi-us.com/~nicco/index.html

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