To apply for a spot at the workshop, use this form: English or Kreyol. The workshop will be given in both English and Kreyol.
November 2-5, 2022 | City: Savanette, Les Cayes, Haiti | Venue: Missions International of America | Cost $100 USD (includes training, hotel and food)
If you are ready to roll up your sleeves and get working on your very own syntropic garden, then come to this 4 day/3 night practical workshop. It’s for serious participants only. Starts at noon on Wednesday November 2 and ends at 1pm on Saturday November 5.
The goal of this initiative is to integrate some of the best farming practices in Haiti with the proven principles of regenerative agroforestry from Brazil. We believe that by sharing information in both directions, we can come up with creative solutions that will serve the poor farmers of Haiti and restore the land.
At the completion of this workshop, each student will understand the basic principles of syntropic farming and be able return home and plant a system on their land.
We will spend half of the day working in the garden and half the day learning in a classroom. So bring your work boots and be prepared to get sweaty and dirty. This approach to farming is proven for those who want to focus on harvests from trees (fruit/timber), market gardens or silvopasture (livestock). Those who want to use this for large scale commodity crops (beans, corn, sugar cane, etc) must accept some risks, as this is currently experimental. Support will be provided after the workshop to ensure success via a Whatsapp group chat. The intention is to build a long-term relationship through twice yearly visits until we are confident that the attendee has mastered this approach to farming. We will also visit twice a year to help participants apply the syntropic principles successfully.
Participant requirements:
submit an application, receive an acceptance notice and pay the fee.
have access to land to plant trees.
be capable of doing all the farming work (tilling, planting, weeding, etc.) needed to plant and manage a garden.
Pay the fees for the implementation of own garden.
Before attending, it is highly recommended to watch the following video and read the guidebook:
Video: Life in Syntropy (in English) Life in Syntropy (in Kreyol)
Guidebook: Abundance Agroforestry (in English) Agrikilti Sentwopik (in Kreyol)
For those invited, further details, such as travel directions and preparation instructions will be given. Your spot is confirmed, only after payment of $100 USD is received. Payment is nonrefundable. A maximum of 40 students will be accepted for this workshop.
Attention: There will be no certificate awarded for this training. If the attendee learns well, their garden will speak for itself.
Roger Gietzen is a father, medical doctor and humanitarian worker who has a special interest in holistic health and regenerative agriculture. His life is devoted to God union. After coming to Haiti to serve the poorest, he created the nonprofit Global Freedom Project. Since 2016 he has been working on an educational program to help spread the wisdom of syntropic farming to the family farmers of Haiti.
Mauro Rosito is a father, humanitarian worker and a farmer with years of firsthand experience in syntropic agriculture. He has operated a sustainable market garden business on his family farm in Southern Brazil. Shortly after he met Roger, he decided to join the team in Haiti and bring his expertise “to the table” to the help create this educational program. He has a special interest in cacao farming.
Paraguai Ferreira is a father, an agroforester and a founding member of successful small scale farmers’ cooperative, linked to the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) of Brazil. He has years of valuable practical experience developing and managing syntropic agroforestry systems for the cooperative. He loves to spend his days side by side with his neighbors, with his sleeves rolled up, working the land and improving the soil.
Harvey Smith is a Haitian who grew up in Belgium. He is an ethnologist who is passionate about music and loves agronomy very much. After a 15-year teaching career in Belgium, he decided to return to Haiti and plant trees and follow his dream to practice agriculture. After Jacmel’s training with Roger and Mauro, he decided to deepen the theory he had learned so that he could support the team in sharing the principles of agriculture that nourishes the earth.
In the photo below: Roger, Mauro, Paraguai and Harvey
18°13’24.28″N 73°49’25.18″W