Page 178 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

11 Developing a Sustainable Agricultural Curriculum in Malawi: Reconciling a Colonial Legacy 155

and practice of growing sustainable gardens is being lost. Rather than promoting
indigenous farming practices, the government is subsidizing western agricultural
methods that require the high-input use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Sustainable Hybridized Farming Practices

Our interviews also revealed hybrid practices that blended traditional farming
practices with western knowledge (Glasson et al. 2009). The project team visited
the organic farm, Freedom Gardens, near Lilongwe, Malawi on several occasions
to learn about the sustainable agricultural practices of Dr. Givens Chinkhuntha.
Dr. Chinkhuntha was interviewed as he led members of the research team on sev-
eral tours of his garden to explain how he blended indigenous farming practices
with western scientific knowledge to create a sustainable, organic garden.
Dr. Chinkhuntha described his hybridized farming practices that included gravity-
fed irrigation, composting, sunken plots, and organic pest control: “[I] realized that
the only profession that would give me surety of food sovereignty was farming and
so I took my hoes and came to this place where I asked for a piece of land from the
chief.” The development of his farm was gradual as he developed gravity-fed irriga-
tion techniques to solve problems that arose from working in a flood plain with
seasonal rains. Dr. Chinkhuntha explained:
We had to find a way of dealing with water so that our crops do not get washed down
stream during rainy seasons and also have sufficient water to supply to our crops through
out the year. ... Water is led to sunken beds through the small channels that you see all along
the paths (ridge-ways) that separate the sunken beds. … I borrowed, adapted and adopted
this technology from Roman aqueducts but designed to suit the requirements of the terrain
and needs for this garden.
Rather than being dependent on a single harvest in which crops are planted only
during the rainy season, gravity-fed irrigation allows for maize to be harvested three
times a year.
The crops are fertilized exclusively using composted vegetable matter and refuse
from the crops on the farm. Dr. Chinkhuntha also elaborated on how maintaining
ecological equilibrium in the garden is necessary for controlling pests:
We also solely rely on biological protection of our crops. Having both plant and animal
species in the garden helps with creating ecological equilibrium. We believe that allowing
predators to exist in the garden is the best way to control pests. Therefore, we allow them
to coexist, which keeps pests checked to reasonable levels. This is clearly illustrated by the
relationship between aphids and ladybugs. Chemical sprays tend to kill ladybugs as well
and once aphids emerge again, they rapidly multiply to unbearable levels.
According to Dr. Chinkhuntha, microhabitats are created in the sunken plots or
beds that are designed for maximizing crop yield:
The sunken plots, on the other hand, create microhabitats for the crops growing together.
Each bed is stocked with a set of crops, which creates a microhabitat that may not be exactly
the same as another sunken bed. Through trial and error, experiments and at times using