The following text is inspired by treasured family gatherings that I fondly recall from my childhood. My grandmother's timeless wisdom was shared through her comments and stories, reflecting her deep connection to nature and her strong work ethic. Our family would gather biannually, spending weeks together with my grandparents who were living in the countryside in the Orinoco region in Colombia. My grandmother was raised in the Andean Region. These areas were inhabited by different groups of indigenous who through generations have passed their knowledge. During the evenings, after dinner, we would sit at the front of the house beneath the sprawling canopy of a majestic mango tree. The adults occupied benches, while us, the younger ones, settled on stones, forming a close-knit circle. In this special family tertulia, my grandmother's voice became a conduit for both tales and nature's secrets. Her anecdotes and life lessons, despite me living year-round in a busy city, profoundly influenced the person I'm today. With every word she shared, a profound link to the land resonated. "Everything we need is here," she used to say. I have a vivid memory of only being able to see little lights flickering around us. These were beautiful fireflies. There was no electricity in the house or near us. We were in the middle of fields surrounded by trees, plants and all sort of creatures and their noises. My grandmother was referring to nature, asserting that we were inseparable from it."Every plant has its purpose - the yucca feeds us with its tubers, while the palm leaves become shelter and baskets. Cocoa's warmth makes us feel better, while its shelf becomes 'cocas' used as vessels for river water, food and cleansing. Remember, take only what you need and give back with gratitude." My grandparents practised what today is known as permaculture. That way of living didn't have a name - it was just how it was. Everything was attuned to nature's rhythms and messages. Close by the mango tree lay a tiny spring, encircled by plants. My grandmother would point at them and say, "They're water's guardians. Their roots anchor soil, preserving water. We look after them and they nurture us." About trees she used to say: "They create homes for animals, shade soil and their fallen leaves become food. When you look at a tree, see the stories it holds. Each branch is one of us - a sort of character. Each mark is a lesson to learn. The earth's wisdom is in every leaf and every root." My grandparents and their ancestors would be considered permaculturists today because they understood that we are nature. My grandmother knew about companion planting but again there was not a name for it. She would say: "See how the beans climb cornstalks? They help each other grow, just like we do. Plants and animals speak to us. They tell us what they need and what we need. They tell us when it is going to rain, when it is going to be sunny and what we need to do. We learn from them and listen to their messages." Through my grandmother's stories, it was clear there was a philosophy that aligns with the innate connection indigenous communities have had with the land for generations.

Sociological surveys of farming systems and labour exchange practices in HPC's working areas reveal an intricate "web" of relationships between the farming, natural resource, social and market levels of production. While it is not the purpose of this report to detail them, the conclusions are that there exist highly appropriate and traditional systems of agriculture, technology, labour and product exchange, and general social organisation, yet these are at risk from degrading natural resources and inapropriate development which pays little heed to traditional systems and culture. HPC's methodology has approached this in 2 ways. The first is by being itself a practitioner of traditional farming systems with small but significant changes to utilise more fully free natural resources. The second way is to use traditional methods in extension and outreach in order to facilitate understanding and acceptance of improved techniques to as many people as possible. An example is a system of labour and product exchange called "adhiya" (from Nepali "adha" meaning "half"). This involves a landless tenant and an absentee landlord, whereby the tenant farms the land and receives half of the crop, plus the next year's seed requirement. HPC has recently made adhiya contracts with 2 local farmers, and thus has access to land in order to demonstrate rolling permaculture, achieved with immediate acceptance and trust by the landowners. In a second example, the adhiya system has been applied to establishing a fruit plantation integrated with fodder trees and grasses, whereby HPC is using its resources of seed, seedlings and information to contract the species selection, establishment and management of the orchard. Fruit is valuable for nutrition, income generation, and as a low maintenance value production system. Permaculture gives emphasis on perennial forms of agriculture - ideally from trees - and so fruit production is an important system in design and therefore HPC's programme. Use of the traditional adhiya system then provides the way to make "development" understandable and acceptable to the farmer by using a system that he/she already knows and trusts. There are many more examples of how improved techniques can be implemented using traditional systems such as adhiya, and the success and immediate acceptance of HPC and its programme means that HPC will concentrate on firstly identifying the appropriate system, and thereupon applying it in the development arena in HPC's working areast.

The ancient temples in India were built tall with a room at the very top. This room was used to store emergency grains and keep them away from animals. The grains would be stored there for a maximum of 12 years. If no emergency took place, and the grains not needed, they would be distributed to the community and replaced with fresh seeds. In the case of an emergency the grains would be distributed to the farmers to ensure the community survived. Catch and store energy (grains for emergency) Multiple elements x multiple functions (place of worship and storage) Beneficial relationships (celebration, caring for the community, etc) Cooperation rather than competition Design for surge and pulse Eliminate single points of failure Stacking functions