Agros Blog

As we recently wrote, Agros communities in Nicaragua and El Salvador have been affected by heavy rains related to Hurricane Jova. Some communities have suffered food shortages and health complications, and the storms have also wreaked havoc on basic infrastructure like homes and access roads. We want to update you on the damages, and let you know what plan of action our Country Directors and Regional Director have put into place.

Damage from storms affected four Agros communities in El Salvador and six communities in Nicaragua. The most pressing concern is severe crop damage that has put some communities in dangerously low supply of vital crops. These crops, which typically serve as the primary food source for future months, have been completely lost in some cases. Agros is working with local authorities and partnering organizations in-country to tap into local resources and help the communities replant. Several communities are installing silos to better store basic grains, and avoid the risk of future crop deterioration.

In addition to crops, damages to homes and some roads were also sustained, and Agros is working with families to make repairs and prevent water from leaking into homes and causing further health issues. Some communities are suffering from higher rates of respiratory infections stemming from the water damage. Illness has been most severe among younger children, who are the most vulnerable. Agros is connecting communities to medical care to treat these infections.

While both El Salvador and Nicaragua were impacted, El Salvador has been able to address the needs in communities through local government partnerships, and general operating budget. Nicaragua is also tapping into partnerships, but needs more support.

For a complete list of needs and action plans for both countries, please click here.

If you would like to make a gift to help our communities to rebuild and replant, please click here to make a donation. Your gift of any size to Agros now will go a long way to help rural villagers impacted by the devastation of these recent storms by providing food, medical attention and repair to community infrastructure.

Last month, heavy torrential rains passed across Central America and Mexico, affecting all of the countries where Agros works. Unfortunately, these storms also brought flooding and crop damage to Agros communities in El Salvador and Nicaragua. We have been in close communication with all Agros Country Directors as they have evaluated the storms’ impact. They are now formulating plans to support these communities through this time.

The initial damage estimates are:

El Salvador:
Approximately 75% of the bean crop has been lost in two communities so far, and corn crops were also badly damaged. Homes and latrines have suffered water damage as well.

Basic grain crops damaged in three communities: El Milagro, San Diego de Tenango and Nuevo Renacer
Homes damaged in three communities: La Esperanza, San Diego de Tenango and Nuevo Renacer

Nicaragua:
The northern Matagalpa region was hit especially hard by these storms, particularly coffee and corn crops. Health is also a concern, as many are suffering from related respiratory illnesses.

Basic grain crops damaged in three communities: San José, Tierra Nueva and El Edén
Productive crops damaged in three communities: Nueva Esperanza, San José and El Edén
Homes damaged in one community: Tierra Nueva
Health concerns in four communities: Nueva Esperanza, San José, San Marcos and Luz del Mañana
Access roads damaged in three communities: San José, Tierra Nueva and El Edén

Guatemala:
No significant damages reported.

Honduras:
No significant damages reported.

Mexico:
No significant damages reported.

Country Directors and staff are working with the local authorities to access available local resources to help the communities replant.

Agros International’s priorities are to make certain that essential food security remains in all villages; that income generation continues; and to ensure access to needed healthcare and housing repairs as necessary. Agros International has emergency funds that will be leveraged towards this effort; local authorities are making resources available; and if needed Agros will launch an appeal to raise additional funds to cover the unexpected losses.

The following was written by Rebecca Craig, an Agros International Student Worker in the Communications Department:

Today is World Food Day! As many of your may well know, Agros’ development model is built around sustainable agriculture. Because of this deep connection I’d like to highlight an issue that has gotten quite a bit of media coverage lately: a lack of global food security. The most dramatic and horrific example of this problem is taking place in Somalia right now where famine is ravaging the country. Governments from around the globe have pledged millions of dollars in food aid, but even in conjunction with a number of international NGOs working in the region to bring famine relief, news reports continue to say that this effort may not be enough. While this region is currently the hardest hit by the issue of food insecurity, this is a global issue that is not just affecting the horn of Africa.

In recent years, the UN food price index has continued to skyrocket, more than doubling in the last decade. The poor are always the hardest hit by these increases; while increasing food prices may mean inconvenience for those of us living in developed nations, it can be the difference between eating one or two meals a day for those living in poverty. This is a complicated issue but there are a number of reasons for growing food insecurity:

• The world population is rapidly expanding – which has more than doubled consumption in the last decade
  • Each year there are about 80 million new mouths to feed
• Demand for meat, milk and other grain intensive livestock is rapidly increasing
• Bio-fuels that turn grains into fuel for automobiles bind the price of grains to perpetually rising oil prices
• Water tables are falling due to exorbitant use of irrigation
• Soil erosion destroys valuable productive land each year

Today there is more demand for food crops than ever before, and producers can’t keep up. Unfortunately the poorest are suffering the most from these shortages. However, Agros is attacking this problem in a twofold manner. First, Agros works with the poor in Central America to help meet their food needs by growing crops on their own land. When the first few families make the move to start a new Agros community one of the first projects they undertake is planting staple crops for the community as a whole. It is of the upmost importance that there will be enough to feed the entire community through their experimentation with other cash crops and enterprises. In this way Agros provides built-in food security for each village from their inception.

The second component of Agros’ involvement with food security is much more far reaching. As Agros communities grow and develop, they become self-sustaining through producing crops and selling them in the world market. In Guatemala alone, snow peas from Agros communities are sold in supermarkets such as Marks & Specser in England, and they are working to get these products to market in the United States as well. Additionally, you can find gourmet coffee Agros produces here in Seattle through Cafe Lusso Roasters, sold in a variety of places from Street Bean Espresso to the Microsoft Executive Briefing Center. Other products are sold in local markets closer to the communities themselves, serving local populations with enhanced access to food supplies.

However, just producing and selling crops is not enough for Agros communities. It is paramount that these resources will be available for generations to come. To this end, Agros provides training and technical assistance for sustainable land use and good stewardship practices, including organic composting, education about soil conservation, land reforestation, and protection of watersheds. In this way Agros has taken steps to ensure that our communities will limit the effects of falling water tables and soil erosion that have stifled production in some areas, and each community will be able to provide for their own food security needs as well as the global communities for generations to come.

The following was written by Rebecca Craig, an Agros International Student Worker in the Communications Department:

Last month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a new small farmer initiative that is directly related to the mission of Agros. Speaking at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food, Bill Gates said, “I’ve become convinced that supporting their efforts to grow more food and get it to market is one of the best possible ways to invest money if you want to help the world’s poorest people become self-sufficient.”

This idea is at the heart of Agros, which has been partnering with rural poor families in Central America and Chiapas, Mexico to attain self-sufficiency through agriculture for nearly thirty years. But one of the factors that sets Agros apart from other organizations is that we view the inability to access land ownership as a major contributor to rural poverty. Without land of their own, the rural poor must either rent small plots of land that only allow for small yields and forces them to give a portion of their yield back to the owners, or work on large farms for little pay and with no job stability. Both of these options take a huge portion of food and potential profits away from those most in need.

That’s why Agros works with a group of families to identify and purchase agricultural land, with the understanding that these families will work to pay off the loans and eventually own that land. These families begin growing their crops, initiating a repayment of those loans at a low interest rate over a period of about ten years. Their payments enable Agros to recycle these funds into future land purchases, effectively passing on the blessing to other communities in need.

Of course, land alone is not the answer. Rather, we form a partnership that is founded on our holistic and participatory development model which entails a long-term commitment to join with each of the communities. Agros comes alongside the families we work with and facilitates this process, ensuring that families access necessities like housing, clean water, and education, in addition to small business loans and training for land use and stewardship.

This is not charity; it’s an investment in the capacity of people and in agriculture.  First the families can begin to grow crops to feed themselves and their families, making day to day survival less of a struggle. Once they’ve reached a steady food supply, then they can begin trying new crops and securing contracts to sell them for additional income, with assistance from Agros agronomists.

Mateo and his wife are a great example of just how necessary land ownership can be to poverty elimination. Over twenty years ago, Mateo and his family fled from the civil war in Guatemala to the safety of Mexico. There they worked on different ranches, dependent on the whims of landowners for survival.  Twice the family tried to put down roots and grow coffee and plantains, only to be kicked off the land. Coffee in particular is a crop that grows well in some climates in Central America, and when produced at the right quality can be quite profitable. But it is also a crop that takes three years to fully mature, and thus requires being on the same land to reap the benefits of years of hard work. Mateo and his family never had that opportunity before partnering with Agros. Now the family lives in the community of Nueva Ilusión and is working towards owning their own land. Looking forward, Mateo shared, “I’m happy because now we have the security of having land to plant—no more patrones kicking us off without notice.”

We have witnessed the amazing potential that agriculture holds for our community members like Mateo, and have enthusiastically watched them journey out of poverty and into self-sufficiency in just one generation. Our families’ hard work – through cultivation of crops such as coffee and snow peas for world market consumption – has given them the opportunity not only to own their own land but also to earn a living, support their families, and dream of a brighter future. We hope that Gates’ speech draws greater attention to the importance of what small farmers are doing in Agros villages throughout Central America and Mexico.  For more information on how Agros is working to empower families and small farmers in Central America and Mexico, click here.

With Mother’s Day coming up, this weekend is a good time to reflect upon everything that mothers do to strengthen their families and communities. At Agros, we’ve learned that investing in women is a necessary component in our holistic community development model. Not only are women successful entrepreneurs, but their commitment to reinvesting profits into their families also reaps rewards for the larger community around them. Our recent discussion of Community Banks, and the small businesses that women have launched because of them, highlights the vital difference that women can make in Agros communities.

This has been a great success of Agros’ development model, because it allows women to provide, in every way, for their families as they all journey out of poverty together. Another way in which women help to provide for their families is by supplying them with the proper nutrition they need through meal preparation. However, this can also be a major health issue, as an article featured last week in the Huffington Post highlighted.

The article pointed out the dramatic health impact that unclean cooking can have on women and children in the developing world; non-communicable diseases, which include cardiovascular disease, chronic lung diseases, and cancer – cause two out of three deaths in the world today, and 80 percent of those occur in developing countries. In lower-income countries air pollution from the use of solid fuels for cooking and heating is the biggest risk factor for chronic lung diseases such as COPD.

In Central America, where Agros works, more than 80 percent of rural families generate heat and prepare food using traditional open-fire cook stoves, which unfortunately compromise the health, quality of life, and environment of this population. These tragic side effects are found primarily among women and children due to the fact that women often spend the most time cooking, and that their children are often present for this task.

Thankfully, Agros recognizes that in order to promote family health, we must make clean cooking a priority. We encourage our communities to build efficient cook stoves, which produce more heat with less wood than open fire cooking and also cook food faster so women have more time for other activities.

By building clean stoves that allow smoke to clear out of the home, community members can minimize health risks for their families. It’s vital that we make this a priority, along with accessing education, training, and growing productive crops – as these families journey out of poverty.

How can you help? In our gift catalog, we offer a Family Health Package consisting of an efficient cook stove and latrine, which allows families to promote healthier practices in their homes. Of course, there are plenty of other gift opportunities that also allow you to celebrate and honor your mother by investing in a rural woman. As you celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, take the time to reflect with gratitude on your life, and how you can honor your mother by empowering a woman in Central America or Mexico:

• Family Health Package
• New Mother and Baby Kit
• Women’s Small Business Loan
• Flock of Chicks
Learn more at the Agros One Seed Gift Catalog!

The following was written by Rebecca Craig, Agros International Student Worker in the Communications Department:

Earlier this month I attended the Bottom Billions/Bottom Line conference presented by Seattle Pacific University. The conference examined methods of poverty alleviation and welcomed business and international development leaders from around the world as speakers. Among them was opening speaker Collin Timms, an enthusiastic entrepreneur with great commitment to poverty alleviation in India. As a founder and the current chair of Guardian Bank – a microfinance institution that has experienced great success with its programs targeted at women – he had much to say about the impact that micro-enterprise loans can have on rural women. As I was listening to Timms describe the significance this program holds for women and their communities, I became encouraged by the number of commonalities between his experiences and those of Agros’ Women’s Community Banks.

Agros uses microenterprise loans for women as an integral and hugely powerful component of our development model, often through the formation of Women’s Community Banks. The banks are typically made up of twelve to twenty women, who provide a support system for each other and mutual responsibility for repayment. Each member receives a six-month loan to provide startup capital for her business such as textiles, baking, and small animal husbandry with pigs, rabbits, goats, or chickens. Hearing Timms, a likeminded individual in our field, reiterate much of our success really inspired me to take a deeper look at why this program is so special and how it affects the women in Agros villages.

Women’s Community Banks are particularly powerful for a number of reasons. Most often the women we work with have not had prior access to credit, nor have they had the opportunity to try their hand at income generating activities. Being stuck in the ruthless cycle of generational poverty often means struggling to survive rather than striving to thrive. However, Agros breaks this cycle and within the context of land stability allows women the opportunity to create small businesses. These community banks allow women to forge their own path out of poverty, and to use what they are good at and passionate about for the support of their family.

Another powerful aspect of these Community Banks is that they allow women to dream! This is usually not a viable option whilst caught in the cycle of poverty.  But these women have the work ethic and desire to provide important supplementary income for their families; all they need is the training, capacity building, and start up finances to make their dreams a reality. Magdalena, a participant of the Women’s Community Bank in La Esperanza, El Salvador, is a great example of this: she used a loan and training to cultivate a bean crop and, with her profits, she bought a refrigerator in order to further her business.

“I can sell frozen chocolate bananas and other sweets. My dream is to start a chicken project and use my refrigerator to store chickens I’ve prepared for sale. I’ve already made a budget and calculated that I would make a profit.” 

One of the reasons that Agros has integrated Women’s Community Banks into all five of the countries it works in is where the profit ultimately ends up. Timms reiterated this aspect of women’s small businesses by saying, “We find that the money made from these women’s microenterprise projects goes directly toward the family: toward better nutrition, better education for their children, and better lives overall.”  This reinvestment is important because it provides economic, educational, and health benefits for generations to come. This additional revenue also supplies a more diversified income for the family.

Additionally Agros has found that women make for a great investment; our repayment rates have been consistently at our set targets since beginning to program. This is due the intentional communal aspect of the banks, which build personal confidence as well as economic stability: ensuring greater success for both lenders and borrowers. Timms commented on how powerful this dynamic can be: “By creating groups for these loans, the women draw off each other’s strengths, and help to balance out one another’s weakness.” Looking to the example of La Esperanza, another member, Dora, highlights this phenomenon.

“We take care of each other since we can see who is really paying back their loan and want to be able to keep working together.  I hope that other women are encouraged and start their own bank as well.”

            Through a partnership with Agros, the women of La Esperanza’s Community Bank have the opportunity to channel personal passions and ambitions toward their journey out of poverty. However, this is not an individual journey, it is one the women take together. This communal aspect is of the upmost importance to Agros as we work to break the cycle of generational poverty for entire communities through hard work alongside, and dedication to, one another.

As we celebrate Earth Day today, consider that for many families in the developing world, every day is really earth day.  For the billions who live in rural areas, their survival is entirely dependent upon the land.  Their access to food, shelter, and income is intrinsically linked to the earth.  And when that access to land is not secure, the cycle of generational poverty continues because of the lack of those resources.

At Agros, we believe that the first step toward upholding environmental sustainability begins with land ownership.  To that end, the Agros development model is focused on ensuring access to land, affordable credit, and technical training proven to support sustainable land stewardship.  For families who partner with Agros, this is the key to breaking that poverty cycle in a powerful way.

How can you help Agros families to be responsible environmental stewards, on Earth Day and every day?  Do your part by investing in rural families who employ sustainable agricultural practices today, so that future generations can continue to enjoy the land!

• Plant a dozen trees in an Agros community
• Give a toolkit to an Agros farmer
• Provide agricultural sustainability training
• Buy a share of an acre of land

Learn how else you can help at the Agros One Seed Gift Catalog!

Did you know that today is International Women’s Day?  It’s a great opportunity not only to celebrate the gains women have made in our own families and communities but also those of women around the world.

Agros has always recognized and supported the crucial role of women in building and nurturing thriving communities and families.

Consider how your support and advocacy for Agros has empowered women in Central America:

• In Agros villages, women now hold nearly half of all leadership positions, enabling them to have an active voice in the governance of their communities, many for the first time in their lives.
• Last year Women’s Community Banks expanded to communities in all five countries where Agros works, transforming rural farmers into savvy businesswomen who are educated about credit and savings.
• Many women have launched small businesses in areas such as baking, sewing, artisan crafts, and agriculture, providing additional income to support their families.
• Women in Agros villages are legally recognized on land titles in their communities, ensuring that they have equal ownership rights to their land as their husbands.  In this region, this is highly unusual.
• Many women have completed the training necessary to serve as the community health promoters in their Agros villages.

As we honor women around the world today, let’s reflect upon the incredible journey that the women of Agros have embarked upon to transform their communities.  We must also think about the opportunities that are still awaiting future generations of women.  Together, let’s help support their efforts by providing them with access to resources and the opportunity to learn and grow.

Please consider giving the women of Agros villages the gift of hope through a gift of:

• Women’s Small Business Loan
• Women’s Economic Initiatives Training
• Village Health Promoter Training
• Rabbits and A Flock of Chicks (for small business creation)
• New Mother & Baby Kit