Alton Climate Action Network
The ACAN logo is painted on a gateway of a rural farm 4,000 miles away in Malawi! The Gumbi Permaculture Community Training Centre (PCTC) is ACAN’s climate justice initiative. Malawi, in Southern Africa, is the fourth poorest country in the world. Two thirds of the population live in food poverty. The 22 million Malawians are responsible for less than 0.04% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but are victims of climate breakdown caused mainly by rich countries.
Most families are subsistence farmers growing maize as a monoculture crop. This requires expensive chemical fertiliser and reliable rains, without which the crop fails. Due to climate change, there is drought most years.
In 2025 PCTC launched as a training centre in sustainable farming methods, offering homestead farmers a one-week course and follow-up support.
In partnership with the Gumbi Education Fund, ACAN donors have since 2021 paid for young people to be trained to train other farmers in sustainable farming, at the Permaculture Paradise Institute in Malawi, growing a wide range of local crops, fruit and nut trees without chemical fertilisers. Money raised from ACAN donors has purchased 3 acres of land for the demonstration farm – and funded the building of a store, indoor and outdoor classrooms, water storage for irrigation, a fish pond, a kraal for pigs, beehives, tools and seeds, and in 2025 a farm motorbike (partially funded by the UK Friends of Malawi Association).
Rondavel accommodation and a unique training kitchen with solar-powered induction hobs were built and equipped in 2025, funded by an ACAN major donor. PCTC is now a centre for solar energy and clean cooking.
In this specially recorded talk for ACAN, James Gomani, the (unpaid) Gumbi PCTC finance and operations manager, explains the importance of the Training Centre’s work and the need for continued ACAN support.
Funding is ALWAYS needed to run training courses every two months, and solar water pumps for irrigation. If you can, please DONATE through the GUMBI button on the donation page on this website to help our work to end food poverty in the Gumbi community of 15,000 people across 19 villages.
