Latin America
MRDF has a small programme in Latin America. This continent has seen much development in recent years, but the rich-poor divide continues to widen, with indigenous communities often unable to start the journey out of poverty. This situation is compounded by a changing climate that affects their primary source of income: their land.
Planting for the future in El Salvador
Deforestation and erratic weather conditions have severely damaged the livelihoods of El Salvador's small-scale farmers. MRDF's partner organisation is working with communities displaced by the civil war helping to introduce sustainable agriculture techniques. These replace the modern methods that require a lot of chemicals and give little thought to conservation. Farmers now have security for the present, reaping healthy harvests, and are protecting their soil for the future.
Farming at school in Guatemala
For Mayan communities in Guatemala, scarcity of land means that people are turning to cultivating steeply sloping land to try and escape poverty. Modern intensive farming methods, such as the planting of monocultures, are unsuitable for these areas. MRDF's partner is promoting a holistic approach that includes increasing crop diversity. School pupils in the Suchitoto area have been provided with a range of different vegetables and medicinal plants, and are learning to grow and care for them. In the past, formal education didn’t provide such practical skills, but now these children will be better equipped for a productive farming future.