The Purpose Group

"Today, at stake in the denial of climate change is the extinction or imperilment of billions of the world's poor."

-- Steven Stoll, The Cold We Caused
Harper's, November 2009

	The Living Fence
	Fodder for cattle, fuel wood for cooking, leaves and tender branches for composting

	Livestock
	In a narrow industrial world, a precious diversity

	Soil and Water Conservation
	Turning land as dry as dust into pasture

	Nitrogen-fixing plants
	Collecting nitrogen from the atmosphere, transporting it to roots

"After the rains of the first year, there was only sparse growth of grass. Before the rains of the second year, I had broadcasted 10 kilos of grass-seeds. Within a month, the entire land looked like a grass-field. The grasses stopped soil erosion during the rains and evaporation and cracking of mud during the summer. Within a span of four years, the top-soil had quadrupled and there was perennial moisture, allowing me to grow all cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits throughout the year. All those around were amazed to see the luscious Alphonso mangoes, considered as king of mangoes, growing so well on the rocky land."

-- Joseph Keve

A plan of genius, no stone left unturned

The Keve Homestead Farm

While visiting villages as the CEO of national and international NGOs, I often asked myself: “How can you experience the challenges faced by the poor without being part of their struggles?” That motivated me to step aside and take up the challenge of setting up a bio-diverse, organic farm on a desolate piece of land right among the indigenous tribal community.

The experiment helped me to learn by doing and later teach by demonstrating. Attaining self-sufficiency by increasing the sources of income was the greatest challenge. That led me to leave no stones unturned: soil and water conservation, tree plantation, cultivating varieties of paddy, pulses, vegetables, oil seeds, fruits and herbs, experimenting with indigenous birds (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea-fowls), animals (cows, goats, rabbits, dogs and cats), fish and turtles.

"I could not have developed my farm without all its integral parts: trees, animals and birds. I would not have survived even a single night without the safety provided by Ginger, my devoted dog, who would go before me to check out the pathway before I ventured out."

-- Joseph Keve

Once the systems were set up, income as well as their sources multiplied. The farm attracted local farmers who were struggling to break even; there was something for everyone to learn and take away. People came from across the region for seeds, saplings, hatching eggs, chicks and ducklings, earth-worms, and herbal medicines. They wanted to learn the techniques for setting up a living fence and setting up a tree-nursery, of soil and water conservation, of making bio-fertilizers and pest-repellants, of pruning, leering and grafting of fruit trees, seed-preservation and humane and responsible care for animals. They also wanted to learn to plan for their farm, to balance their income and expenditure and to plan for their families. My farm took me beyond all riches to a life of contentment and peace.

Joseph Keve is the Purpose Group International's director of international programs. He is former international executive director for the South Asia Partnership International, where he coordinated country offices in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, organized regional training and global research, and liaised with South Asian governments. He has trained over 1,700 farmers in all aspects of agriculture, with an emphasis on helping them achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Theresa and Raju with their children Robin (8 years), Anita (3) and Sonam (6)
give special care to chickens in Joseph's pure bred program.

A PG International founding flock of nonindustrial chicks in India:
from a strong, maternal mother who is a prodigious egg layer, sustainable nonindustrial chicks
with their mother's wonderful
endowments: a critical stepping stone to food security

The skills forgotten by industrial breeds:

Aseel chicks get their first
lessons in scavenging

Aseel chicks learning the
art of mud-bathing

Mother teaching chicks to
recognize danger signals

The Living Fence

Fodder for cattle, fuel wood for cooking, leaves and tender branches for composting

Within days of buying a piece of land, I realized that without protection from predators and people, I had no chance of creating a farm. I had no money to invest in building a fence even with thorny plants. I and my dog spent numerous nights chasing animals, both wild and domestic. Then emerged my dream of a living fence.

For several months, I collected every type of tree-seeds that I could lay my hands on: teak, rosewood, mahogany, several varieties of acacia, eucalyptus, neem, cashews, mangoes, custard apples, wood apples, of timber and fuel wood, of fodder, oil-seeds and medicines, those with thorns, those which grew large and those which remained as small bushes. I even got the children from the village to collect seeds for me in exchange for biscuits. Once I sat in the centre of the local market with a huge basket of ripe custard apples that I had bought, asking the children to eat the fruit and give me the seeds. Before the first rains came, I had 37 kilos of seeds.

I dug around my farm of nearly three hectares and laid the seeds along the shallow trenches that I had dug into the earth. Every morning, I took a walk and smiled at the little leaves that were emerging from the wet ground. I had to control my curiosity: the saplings were too feeble and small to be counted. I continued my seed-collection and planting into the second and third years, taking extra care to fill in the gaps.

Towards the end of the rains of the third year, I counted my little and little-bigger trees. The tallest were about 3 feet. And there were 4,722 of them! I had to watch and nurture them for another two years. All through the year I would cut and prune to keep them in place. Finally, I had my own Living Fence! Other than the most-needed protection and wind-break, my fence provided fodder for the cattle, fuel wood for cooking, leaves and tender branches for green manure and composting, certain seasonal green-leaf sprouts and flowers for soups and vegetables and certain barks, leaves and seeds for medicine.

Just watching the tall trees swaying in the winds washed away the aches and pains of an exhausting day. Whenever there was pruning and cutting, all the neighbours were happy to get the castaways to build their own fence or for fuel. By the end of the tenth year, if I wanted, I could sell the wood on my fence for a price equal to what I had paid for the land. The idea has caught on very fast and today there are hundreds of farmers in the area who have their living fences around their farms.

Integration of Livestock

In a narrow industrial world, a precious diversity

I could not have developed my farm without all its integral parts: trees, animals and birds. I would not have survived even a single night without the safety provided by Ginger, my devoted dog, who would go before me to check out the pathway before I ventured out. The cows, Ganga and Gemini, a pair of majestic Kankrejs, one of India’s sturdy originals, and Ganpat the Gir bull gave me all the cow-dung that the farm ever needed.

They were trained not to interfere with the planted vegetables and saplings, a rule they observed meticulously and taught to their babies. Every visitor found it difficult to believe that they were allowed to roam the entire farm at will and yet never touched any of the planted saplings, trees or vegetables.

The cows brought in about 20 per cent of the income of the farm. Another 20 per cent of the income came from the 200 chickens, 120 ducks, 15 guinea-fowls, 6 geese and 3 turkeys, all indigenous and sturdy enough to survive the vagaries of nature and attacks by varieties of predators.

During the day, they roamed about, searching for food, enjoying themselves and bringing life and joy to the entire farm. They were joined in by the pea-cocks, partridges, quails and numerous other birds which came in for occasional visits from the adjoining forest. The two large ponds and a tank supplied all the fish we needed. There were varieties of turtles which added to the life and turmoil of the ponds. The story would be incomplete without a mention about Tiger, our cat, with all his wonderful stripes. How could we convince anyone that the cat and the dog were the greatest of friends, there were mother-hens who hatched out chicks, ducklings, guinea-chicks all at the same time, or how the Aseel roosters always shared baby-sitting with the mother hens, and how a guinea baby learned to swim in the pond with its soul mate, a duckling. In the present narrow, industrial world, these adorable creatures teach us about true humanness and harmony. Yes, a farm without livestock is like a garden without flowers!

Soil and Water Conservation

Within a month, the land looked like a grass field

It did not take long for me to realize that I had bought a piece of land that was fit for blasting for granite than cultivating even paddy. On the best of patches, the soil was less than six inches deep, sitting on huge boulder stones with crevices that let little water to sink into the soil. Having marked out every bit of space that I needed for any non-agricultural operations, I dug half-moon-shaped shallow trenches against every bit of the natural slopes along the contours of the land. I could not stop all the water, but I could stop every grain of precious top-soil that came along with the waters.

After the rains of the first year, there was only sparse growth of grass. Before the rains of the second year, I had broadcasted 10 kilos of grass-seeds. Within a month, the entire land looked like a grass-field. The grasses stopped soil erosion during the rains and evaporation and cracking of mud during the summer. Within a span of four years, the top-soil had quadrupled and there was perennial moisture, allowing me to grow all cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits throughout the year. All those around were amazed to see the luscious Alphonso mangoes, considered as king of mangoes, growing so well on the rocky land.

Nitrogen-fixing Plants

Collecting nitrogen from the atmosphere, transporting it to roots

Most farmers in the region spent nearly one-third of their gross income to buy urea, making it almost impossible to break even in agriculture. Urea kills all the beneficial micro-organisms in the soil like the earthworms, leading to the hardening of soil and aids faster evaporation of moisture. In my search for alternatives, I tried out several types of nitrogen-fixing plants. Finally, I came across Sesbania Cannabina, one of the best nitrogen-fixing plants in the world.

Whenever a portion of the land was idle, I would throw in these seeds and after the plants had grown to about two feet, plough them into the soil. This plant that can grow upto a height of twelve feet (in favourable circumstances), has a life-span of six months. Some survive into a second or even a third season. All through its life-span, it collects nitrogen from the atmosphere, transports it to its roots, and converts it into granules that are filled with natural nitrogen and supplies it to the soil. Gradually I realised that other than its nitrogen-fixing role, the plant can be used as support for several creepers like varieties of beans and gourds. With its fast growth, it is a wonderful shade-tree for nurseries and newly planted saplings. Its leaves and even tender stem turn into green manure within days. Its bright yellow flowers attract all types of bees, butterflies and other insects that are critical for pollination in varieties of pulses, vegetables and fruit trees. There is also the larger variety of Sesbania called Sesbania Grandi-flora that can survive up to ten years. Its tender leaves, flowers and pods are edible. In Orissa, those on long fasts munch on the protein-rich seeds to avoid fainting from exhaustion.