Intro to Agroforestry: Food Forests, Permaculture & Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

Abudu Nenwero leads the free online opening session of MAMA TREE's 2026 Agroforestry Workshop Series, recorded live on September 11, 2026. Abudu shares how food forests mimic natural forest ecosystems, what traditional ecological knowledge teaches us about tending land, ecological succession, the ethics and principles of permaculture design, and how MAMA TREE is turning a conventional citrus orchard in Upper Ojai into a diverse, regenerative food forest. In the questions that follow, Abudu and the MAMA TREE team talk about nitrogen-fixing and fodder plants, grazing animals between the tree rows, silvopasture and alley cropping, and how agroforestry and permaculture differ. Learn with us in person: workshops, volunteer days and farm visits at https://mamatreeojai.com Instagram: @MAMATREEOJAI Chapters 0:00 Welcome 1:24 Meet Abudu Nenwero 5:26 What is a food forest? 6:20 Food forests 6:53 Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Turtle Island: Lyla June 7:51 Soil cores and fossilized pollen 9:11 Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Winona LaDuke 9:41 Traditional & Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, Ghana 10:39 4,000-year-old date palm food forest & 10,000-year-old Chumash food forest 13:04 Ecological succession 15:50 Industrial agriculture vs permaculture 19:08 Earth care, people care, fair share 21:24 Permaculture principles 35:23 Layers of a food forest 37:13 Traditional Chumash food forest, Upper Ojai 38:39 MAMA TREE 39:21 From citrus orchard to agroecological food forest 40:02 Overhead view of west block 41:06 Water: slow, spread, sink, store, share 42:15 Two more infiltration basins, winter 2023 42:41 MAMA TREE food forest: overstory (2-4 years old) 44:03 Midstory and understory 45:15 Questions & comments 59:06 Silvopasture system 1:00:22 Alley crop system 1:02:02 Silvopasture system, continued 1:07:31 Agroforestry Workshop Series #agroforestry #foodforest #permaculture