History

Our Founding: Where It Started

In the early 1990’s, Florence “Flo” Reed served as an agroforestry Peace Corps volunteer in Panama. During her service, she witnessed farmers burning forests for farmland, hoping to grow enough food to feed their families.

The new land produced food for only a few years, leading to ongoing deforestation. Reed knew that the farmers recognized the catastrophic impacts of slash-and-burn agriculture, but they didn’t see any other way to provide for their families. 

Through living, eating, and working alongside these farmers, Reed realized that practical training in more sustainable agricultural methods could provide them with a way to better provide for their families while protecting and restoring ecosystems. Determined to find an alternative to slash-and-burn farming, Reed conducted extensive research on sustainable methods during her Peace Corps service and trained local farmers in new techniques and tools. Together, they restored the land and increased food production. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, however, the time Reed had to train farmers on sustainable agriculture and agroforestry was limited. It was through this experience that Reed saw the need to create a multi-year program that would give farmers ample time to learn, experiment, adjust, and adopt these new practices.

Reed connected with so many farmers in Coclé, Panama that her Peace Corps Program Director joked that they should rename the province "Floclé" for all the work she had done to create lasting environmental and economic change there. 

Inspired by the success of these sustainable techniques in meeting the needs of farmers and the environment, Reed set out to build upon this tremendous potential and expand across Central America. Securing funding, building a team, and ensuring local community support were essential steps in the process. Much of the early planning took place in a spare bedroom of Reed’s parents’ home, becoming SHI’s first office.

Our Story + Where It’s Going

Reed started in Honduras, visiting potential communities and organizations doing similar work. She wanted to ensure that rural farmers were 100% invested. From experience, she knew that grassroots change is the longest lasting.

After Reed formed partnerships with university professors, small business owners, teachers, and non-profit executives, Sustainable Harvest International was founded in 1997, complete with a Board of Directors, three employees, and 50 participant families. A pilot program started in Honduras and then extended to Panama, Belize, and Nicaragua. 

Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) now has programs in three Central American countries, a dynamic board of directors, international staff, and a lively community of dedicated donors that allow locally-hired field trainers to keep doing their important work. Since 1997, SHI has worked with over 4,000 families and planted more than 5 million trees!