ibnahmed Abdullah

John Elliott wrote:

ibnahmed Abdullah wrote: deforestation is a big problem here and we want to work towards significantly slowing this process down. This really where the endangered yeheb shrub comes into and in combination with the planting of the acacias and junipers that make the Somali savanna so epic at sunset and sunrise.

Solving the deforestation is the key to your success. As long as goats are free-ranging and can eat whatever you plant, you will be fighting a losing battle. If you can keep herbivores away from small plants so that they can grow into big plants, you will be able to re-green the desert and it will support many more animals than it is currently capable of doing.

Other trees that you could consider planting are ones of the Parkinsonia genus. These are quite common in the southwestern U.S., but I understand that they are "threatened by habitat loss" in East Africa. If you would be interested in seeds of these, you can try contacting the Desert Legume Program at the University of Arizona. I have a much smaller seed bank than they do, but I have a collection of some desert legumes and would be willing to share them with you. Send me a PM if you are interested.

Once you have your range improvements well in hand, then you will be able to consider how many animals that range will support.

I see re-greening the desert, seems like the smartest thing to do. How would you combine it with large scale ginuea fowl farm. keep in mind that we have a total of 5000 acres but at this point we are only really looking into using 1000-1200 acres as beginning.

I think maybe a multi-stage project would be good. Dividing the 5000 acres in several sections and over several years regreen the area. Maybe something similar to what was done in Niger with ''the man who stopped the desert''..

but i agree great idea, and this seems like the way to go.

Jay C. White Cloud wrote:Hello Ibnahmed, welcome to Permies

Can you give a google link to your farm...if you wouldn't mind, and describe the landscape in more detail. The "livestock load" on the land is interdependent on the underlying biome type and if you are a permaculturalist (which we promote,) and concerns for impact this concentration of animals may have on the natural environment. With this much land, human, and fiscal resource, what other possible ventures could you pursue that may be beneficial to your goals, and the permaculture ethos? Look forward to knowing more.

Regards,

j

Thanks for the warm welcome jay

I intend to be a permaculturalist, one of the prime reasons we are doing this in our home country rather than the Europe is because we are not limited by law in East Africa and have Free-range is the norm.
At this point we are looking to grow Sorhum/Milo and a endangered native nut shrubs called the cordeauxia edulis/yeheb nut tree.

The biome we are working in is the West Somali ethiopia savanna area. deforestation is a big problem here and we want to work towards significantly slowing this process down. This really where the endangered yeheb shrub comes into and in combination with the planting of the acacias and junipers that make the Somali savanna so epic at sunset and sunrise.

I have provided some pictures here they are from a website but they display the land that will be the farm well.

HI there everyone i am new to the forum and i thought i come on here and ask for advice.
Myself and 2 other friends are looking to set up a large scale broiler guinea fowl farm.
I am in the process of of buying a 1200 acre plots of land in East Africa, prime savanna land(natural habitat of the bird), we intend to have a dozen goat on site as well .

So how much space does a bird need what would you consider a good starting flock and money and manpower are not a a issue.

any advice will be appreciated