The Rock of Horeb
Santa Barbara, Honduras
Size: 141 acres
Population: 22 families
Founded: 2008
In April 2002, a group of twelve landless farmers working as field workers for landowners in the northern part of the Gualala Santa Barbara region, came together to organize themselves in order to purchase land. As a result, one landowner took heart in their cause and decided to lend a piece of land to the group, hoping that the National Agrarian Institute (NAI), an institution devoted to agrarian reform in Honduras, would help them purchase the land. While actual purchase through the NAI never worked out, they nevertheless spent four years cultivating beans and corn until they made contact with Agros Honduras staff. Agros Honduras staff then spent 1.5 years sharing information on the Agros Development Model and providing training and accompaniment while the families waited for land and support.
The families have organized themselves and formed a leadership team as well as Production, Security, Commercialization and Health committees. The group has been effectively producing their own food to provide nutritional security for their families, including 46 acres of corn and almost one acre of beans. Farmers have received training in organic agriculture and improved techniques for growing basic grains and their 0.8 acre plot of plantains. Women have received training in using nutritious plants to improve their families’ health and two members of the community have been selected to receive training to serve as community health promoters. With the 141 acres of land to which they now have access, the families will be able to put into action the tools and skills that they are learning.
Projects planned for the 2010 – 2011 fiscal year include:
- Seminars teaching health-improving measures like nutrition and hygiene
- Developing relationships with partnering organizations
- Training women to start the village’s first community bank
- Improving irrigation and in-home water systems
- Fortifying community values through meetings and workshops
- Taking necessary steps to begin a tilapia fish project
