The Gumbi Alton Permaculture Project is now known by the more accurate and positive title of the Gumbi Permaculture Community Training Centre. The team in Malawi have made truly tremendous progress over the last couple of months in developing their community’s permaculture school, including:

• From 11- 15 August 2025, the first and very successful permaculture and cookery training course for 15 local homestead farmers was delivered at PCTC.  A second course is taking place between 13 and 18 October. 

• PCTC was registered as a social enterprise company with the Government of Malawi.

• PCTC was on the international stage: a presentation at an international social impact conference (organised by the African Social Enterprise Workshop) by James Gomani, the finance and operations manager in Malawi; led to praise from the ASEW director for lead farmer Martin Thole making fuel briquettes from waste flip chart paper; nd a request for a visit in November to PCTC by a group from Strathmore University Business School in Kenya.
• The development of a vision, mission and action plan for the growth of the Centre’s workPhotos and much more information are in the newsletter.

This is Alton Climate Action Network’s climate justice project.  The need for our financial support is as great as ever, to contribute to the costs of training courses and provide irrigation in particular.  Its weather badly affected by climate change, Malawi is the fourth poorest country in the world; 13 of its 22 million population are living in food poverty, either food insecure or facing hunger.  Food price inflation is 25-30 %.  But we know that permaculture farming methods can provide a secure and sustainable food supply.  The PCTC team want to train and support many more farmers.  This initiative has no administrative overheads: management in the UK and in Malawi is undertaken by volunteers.

 If you are able to donate, please go to the donate page on this website. We will make careful use of all donations, however small.

Thank you!