current campaigns
El Salvador: mudslides and hurricanes
left: repairing a road washed away by mudslides after Hurricane Stan.
centre and right: permaculture in El Salvador.
In El Salvador, the rains normally finish by the end of October, ready for harvest, but in recent years they have continued for weeks afterwards.
A longer rainy season is not just a minor inconvenience. Rain destroys the maize crop, the staple food of Salvadorians, which is traditionally left on the stalks to dry. Local environmental damage and deforestation make matters even worse: heavy rain washes away degraded soil and in extreme cases causes floods and mudslides.
MRDF supports permaculture programmes in El Salvador and Guatemala to help farming communities protect their local environment and adapt to the changing climate.
For example, the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador helps farmers to grow a variety of crops which better withstand the weather, has introduced new ways of drying maize and gives people the training that they need to farm more ecologically. Find out more in this year's Harvest Pack.
