agriculture projects

A relationship that started in 2010 with our Agriculture Partner has continued to mature and we are witness to many ongoing changes.  A project we funded in 2010 continues to evolve into something none of us could fore see 6 years ago. 

We first started working with our Agriculture Partner (AP) after moving to our home in Concepcion Batres.  They took us to many sites where small family farms were supported with the latest agriculture methods to improve yields.  The only problem was lack of funds to purchase more resources to include more residents of the volcanic range.  After many visits, we were convinced that the work of our AP was indeed the way to decrease poverty for the people living in this range.  With determination and the Internet, we wrote to our home church and asked for a financial commitment to expand this work.

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church West Bend Wisconsin invested $15,000 to include more families in 2011. In 2013 a delegation from OSLC visited those sites in Usulután/San Miguel to see first-hand how this investment benefited Salvadorans.  We were impressed with the results, sampling four families of a total of 63 families that participated in the project.

There was nothing visionary in this investment; it followed an established pattern.  But in 2015 when a young man from our AP spent 6 weeks at Wellspring Organic Farm, he began to see a vision for a new agriculture model when he returned home.

The new model includes family cooperatives working together in a large hot house. Each cooperative includes 10 families and each cooperative grows a different vegetable or vegetables in the hot house. When the crop ripens they harvest hundreds of pounds of produce that they sell it to a middle man, who in-turn takes it to a larger market like San Salvador. The old way is to sell whatever vegetable is ripe from their small garden, spending a lot of time in the market and competing with other families from the same community.  The new model provides more jobs, specialization, and more income.

Inside the hoop-house it’s hot!  If these large hot houses were entertainment tents you could seat 4,000 people in each site.  Watering is done via drip hose with water provided by rain collection and also a stand-by gasoline powered water pump.  The plants protected from insects, airborne disease, and the environment allow for multiple crops per year.

Next year they will implement their own marketing organization to sell directly to the larger markets, providing more work, better profit and income for more families. 

This project begun in 2011 with 63 families is growing and evolving in something more dynamic.  The participants have a vision for the future and are developing a strong leadership team who enjoy working together for the benefit of all.  We are confident the project will continue to grow and strengthen the lives of more families.

Are we relieving poverty in these communities and for these people?  A resounding yes, as we saw a new barn, housing improvements and healthier families.

David y Nancy