Bringing the Potential of Agroforestry to Life in Belize
Location: BELIZE
For over thirty years, the Maya Mountain Research Farm in Southern Belize has demonstrated the potential of permaculture techniques to ensure food security.
Tucked into the foothills of the Maya Mountains, two miles upriver from the village of San Pedro Columbia in southern Belize, the Maya Mountain Research Farm (MMRF) is a thriving example of regenerative agriculture that is both ecologically and economically viable.
PARTNERS
The MMRF is supported by:
Outback Power Systems
Protected Areas Conservation Trust
United Nations Development Project
BP Solar
AIMS
The MMRF is, first and foremost, a demonstration farm. Over three decades, work on the farm has proven the regenerative benefits of applying permaculture principles in the South Belizean context, restoring land previously damaged by cattle and citrus farming. The farm also acts as a buffer zone for the nearby Columbia River Forest Reserve.
Building up and refining an agro-ecological system that conserves natural resources and provides ecosystem services has been the main focus of the farm throughout its history. With that system now stable, productive and sustainable, the farm has taken on additional projects, including maintaining a seed bank of indigenous plant species and running educational programs to share the knowledge and skills of permaculture.
CONTEXT
Founded in 1988, the MMRF is one of Central America’s oldest permaculture projects. It is situated across 70 acres of land in the Maya Mountains of Southern Belize, over and around the ruins of a classical-period Mayan site.
Belize is the least-populated country in Central America, but it is also one of the fastest-growing. As the population expands, there will be increasing need for sustainable methods of ensuring food security without further damaging the unique ecology of the region. The MMRF is an established example of how this can be achieved, attuned to the specific local challenges of the lowland, humid, tropical environment of Southern Belize, such as its extreme wet and dry seasons and its hurricane risks. It is also set up to operate effectively in spite of the limits of local infrastructure - there is minimal road access to the farm and little availability of grid electricity, making self-sufficiency all the more important.
METHOD
The MMRF is home to over 500 species of native plants and animals. Its agro-ecological approach is designed to contribute culturally appropriate high-value products to the local economy while maintaining the traditional indigenous lifestyles of the region. In doing this, it also replicates natural ecosystem processes including carbon sequestration, soil and water retention, and the creation of wildlife habitat.
One of the key elements of this system is the farm’s agroforestry practice. 25 acres of the site are turned over to a verdant forest of fruit, leguminous, medicinal and timber trees, which nurture herbaceous perennials and marketable crops such as coffee and cacao in their shade. The plants are chosen for the many different kinds of yields they produce, some of which leave the system to become food or saleable goods, while others remain within the cycle of the forest to enhance productivity through continual nutrient provision. The forest produces a high proportion of the food needed to feed both the people and the animals living on the farm.
The farm’s buildings are designed to be resilient to local conditions, including hurricanes, with minimal disruptive impact on the surrounding ecosystem. All power comes from renewable energy, mostly solar. Water is pumped from a spring using photovoltaic panels, and the farm community has helped to install similar pumps in a number of nearby villages to help reduce their dependence on the grid.
The MMRF has been a locus of many kinds of educational efforts. It plays host to interns, students, study groups and volunteer workers, creating a vibrant learning community with a continual turnover of participants and knowledge. It also works with local NGOs and international education institutions to host and contribute to a number of courses, including renewable energy training and an annual Permaculture Design course.