The key goal of the WSSD was to promote the advancement of Sustainable development around the world. One area of importance is to encourage productive vegetable gardening in African farming environments.
A major productivity reducer in African vegetable gardens is grazing on the harvest by roaming livestock. Unfortunately the building of fences to protect said gardens is an expensive undertaking. Not only are the initial costs in labor not insignificant, but fences also need ongoing care and maintenance if they are to remain effective.
The concept of live fences is one example of sustainable development. By using vegetation as fencing the amount of effort required in their building and maintenance is greatly reduced. Not only are costs reduced, but the fence itself can become an asset.
Firewood, fruits and similar products can be harvested from the fencing on a regular basis. Thus it becomes not just an obstacle to livestock getting into vegetable gardens, but a productive part of the garden itself.
While it may take a couple of years for a living fence to grow in from seed or seedlings, they are a much more realistic approach to protecting crops in Africa than the type of fences traditionally used in Western countries.
Research indicates that the use of living fences over dead fences in certain economically challenged African countries can increase a farmers earning by almost $250 American dollars over a six year test period. This is a significant amount of money in areas where the average income can sometimes be less than a dollar a day.
It is by spreading knowledge of sustainable development ideas – like this simple technique for improving the productivity of vegetable gardening – that summits like WSSD can make lasting changes to the world.
