The One Eleuthera Foundation writes regularly in The Tribune. Here, Tim Hauber, OEF Agriculture Consultant, talks about the foundation’s Regenerative Food Forest project. 

What is the Regenerative Food Forest (RFF) at the CTI Farm?

A Regenerative Food Forest is a form of ecological and regenerative agriculture that is modelled on nature, specifically a forest. Different plants are grown together to form a resilient and healthy ecosystem similar to a forest. Perennial plants, such as shrubs and trees play a central role. Food forests have the potential to provide all the ingredients for a healthy diet and can even produce other products (wood, fibre, medicinal herbs) and at the same time, food forests provide ecosystem services that are urgently needed today: they build fertile soil, increase biodiversity, cool the local climate, permanently store carbon and much more. Our Regenerative Food Forest will be one acre in size and will be situated next to our 1.1-acre retractable roof cooling house, (The Oasis.)

What will be the main layout/features of this new agri-development in Rock Sound, powered by One Eleuthera Foundation?

The backbone of the food forest is the trees, in our case mostly fruit trees. The trees will provide the shade and protection for the shorter plants in the system. Below the canopy of the trees we will be growing a wide variety of other plants that will provide food but will also enrich the soil. Everything that we do in the food forest is done with the goal of enriching the soil and the biodiversity of the plot, which is the opposite of what modern industrial farming practices do. We will be planting grasses and legumes that will regularly be cut as mulch for the trees and other plants in the forest, helping to create rich and living soil. This plot will be managed using organic farming techniques, free of any chemical pesticides or fertilisers. Once the plot is fully established, approximately 5 years, it should be virtually self-sustaining and will not need any external inputs.

What does OEF/CTI hope to accomplish through the RFF? Main goals?

We believe that this model of growing food might be the most sustainable and resilient model for The Bahamas. Modern farming techniques require many inputs that must be purchased from outside the country, however, this model will be virtually self-sustaining and will require very little, if any inputs once it is established. If we, as a nation,  are seeking to move towards self-sufficiency in our food production then we believe this model must be tested and proved. We also believe that as the climate continues to change on our planet, we must be seeking food production techniques that are more resilient than current farming practices and a food forest is definitely this. Our goal is to prove this technique as a viable production model in The Bahamas and to then share the knowledge and insights gained with the greater farming and scientific community.

How does a feature like this support local agriculture, agri-education and agri-tourism?

Farmers, like any business person, are cautious to change their current practices simply based on reports or articles that explain a new and possibly better way, because their livelihood is at stake. Based on all the research we have done we are convinced that this technique of growing food is a better method than our current practices so we are putting our money where our mouth is and taking the first step to establish a functional regenerative food forest. We are optimistic that we will soon see positive results that will convince the greater farming community that switching to this model will benefit them in both the short term and long term. A switch to this model of agricultural production will be exciting for agri-tourism because the diversity of fruits and vegetables that we can produce will be much greater, our plot will have more than 15 different fruit species, bringing more healthy and delicious food options for all.

Where else in the world can a similar initiative be found?

These projects are being established all around the world. Australia and Brazil were early adopters but now it has spread around the world as persons see the many benefits of this approach. It is worth noting that although we are calling this a new technique it is actually just returning to a model, natural forests, that has been in place from the beginning of time.  Our ancestors that grew food in small subsistence plots were using many of these same techniques that we are using in a regenerative food forest and it was only the era of large scale industrial agriculture that drove out the diversity of these small plots and replaced them with large chemical dependent monocrop fields.

How long will it take for the project to flourish?

A typical food forest will take about 7 years to become mature but we should start to see the benefits of this approach within 3 years.

When will the RFF be open to receive visitors?

We are open to share what we are doing and learning with this project at any time. Tours can be booked through our hotel front desk. The CTI Farm is powered by One Eleuthera Foundation and located in Rock Sound, Eleuthera.

• Tim Hauber is the farm and growhouse operations officer at CTI & OEF. Established in 2012, the One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) is a non-profit organisation located in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. For more information, visit www.oneeleuthera.org or email info@oneeleuthera. org.