Promote Sustainable Agriculture in Chiapas
Location
Desarrollo Económico Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas (DESMI) will provide loans and training for organic coffee, corn, vegetable, livestock, and wood-saving stove projects. Training topics include ecological issues, gender equity, health and nutrition, and financial management.
Desarrollo Económico Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas (DESMI) provides financial, organizational and technical assistance to help community groups carry out their own projects and work together in resolving community needs. DESMI supports the development of indigenous collectives of corn and coffee production, animal husbandry, crafts production and opening local grocery stores with the goal of creating an integrated network of producers and consumers as backbone to a strong rural economy.
This project has the potential to impact 400 families through improved nutrition and increased income generation. Shade-grown organic coffee will expand habitats for birds and other wildlife. Cattle collectives will rotate pasturelands, protecting surrounding rainforests from destruction.
DESMI is addressing low income generation and limited access to nutrition through a sustainable and replicable agricultural model. Elements of this project include: high crop diversity, a commitment soil recovery and conservation, use of organic fertilizers, and use of and conservation of native seeds. Through this program, the organization expects to improve health, nutrition, and self-sufficiency of families and communities; expand habitat for birds and other wildlife though organic coffee practices, and protect the rainforest through sustainable cattle collectives and wood preservation.
