Original story written in Spanish by Dayra Julio, SHI-Panama’s Logistics + Partnerships Coordinator

María Balbina Rodríguez standing within her multi-story agroforestry parcel which includes crops like plantains, yuca, and pigeon peas. September 2021. Photo taken by Dayra Julio.

Aguas Claras, Penonomé, Panama:

María Balbina Rodríguez, 47, shows me the work she’s been doing on her farm with great pride and emotion. When I visit her farm in the community of Aguas Claras, my conversations with her or one of her family members is always a meaningful learning experience for me. As highly motivated partners with SHI-Panama since 2019, María and her family have eagerly dedicated themselves to raising animals and farming in a sustainable way, meeting their family’s food needs while lessening their dependence on external inputs like chemical fertilizers and insecticides.

Establishing Roots and Creating Opportunity

María was born in Aguas Claras, Panama but moved away at a very young age to the community of Santa Elena. Over the course of 30 years in Santa Elena, she met her beloved husband, Vicente Villarreta, and together they raised seven children. Although Santa Elena was home, María was concerned about the community’s limited access to education and medical care, especially because of her mother’s declining health. In Santa Elena, it took an hour to walk the distance to the primary school, traversing streams, rivers, mud, and long stretches of primary forest. To stay there, her children would have been admitted to the nearest educational center, General Basic School of Coclesito, or sent to a relative on the outskirts of town. But in Aguas Claras, she could find good medical care for her mother and better education for her children, who could attend nearby schools. Fortunately, the family had maintained their old property in Aguas Claras and they made the decision to move back to the land where María was born.

María Balbina and her husband, Vicente Villarreta. September 2021. Photo taken by Dayra Julio.

Upon her return to Aguas Claras, María’s family established a makeshift house and began to work the land, but they noticed that there was a marked reduction in productivity as compared to their farm in Santa Elena. As Vicente notes, “The land was a bit tired and needed help, good for certain crops but not for everything.” For this reason, they began using some chemicals to counteract the weeds, as well as fertilizer to help the plants grow.

Healing the Land through Farming

Over time, María and her family started to learn about the harmful effects that chemicals can have both on the environment and on their health through radio and television, as well as programs that had visited the community like, Opportunities Network and the Peace Corps. Little by little, their awareness grew and they decreased their use of chemicals. They made considerable changes in the way they farmed. They started applying organic fertilizer to their crops, including chicken manure, coffee husks from the annual harvest, and biodegradable waste from the kitchen. They stopped fumigating and began preparing the beds by weeding and using grass. They even built a pond to raise fish.

When María and her family decided to partner with SHI-Panama, they were already highly motivated to improve the way they farmed the land by implementing sustainable and eco-friendly practices. The family received personalized assistance from SHI Field Trainer Maribel Ojo to further the work they were already undertaking. They were aware that to embrace organic agriculture, they would need to learn about, improve, and apply certain methods and techniques of conservation.

A Partnership Tailored to Each Family’s Needs

María shows some of the coffee harvested from her farm. With a total of 80 plants, coffee is an important source of income for María’s family. January 2021. Photo taken by Dayra Julio.

When they joined the program in 2019, the family participated in various communal work projects within the community, replicating what they had learned on their own. These work projects promoted teamwork and the exchange of ideas among neighbors. During this period of time, the family also participated in diverse theoretical and practical training on the elaboration of organic fertilizers, making use of local resources, and composting. They also took part in workshops on transformational leadership, small business management, and microfinancing through a partnership program. They began implementing diverse techniques of soil conservation including the construction of terraces, and the creation of living and dead barriers. But when the pandemic began in 2020, SHI-Panama temporarily halted all collaborative, community projects. Even so, the family continued to work one-on-one with Maribel in applying the knowledge they had already learned.

María and her daughter, Cristina, cooking on SHI’s wood-conserving stove. Kitchen scraps from the meal will be used to feed their pigs. September 2021. Photo taken by Dayra Julio.

With the support of SHI, María now has a wood-conserving stove that requires only a small amount of wood. Time that she once spent collecting firewood, she can now use for other activities. Her regular workday starts at 6 am and ends at 8 pm. She has constructed a hoop house to protect the seed beds and vegetable crops since the the wet season, which locals refer to as winter, extends from May to February with irregular rainfall throughout the year. María and her family are currently establishing an agroforestry system where they have planted coffee (80 plants), mamón chino, avocado, soursop, pineapple, cassava, and rice. They also received support in improving their pig pen and have received various seeds to grow pigeon peas, diamond yam, tomato, celery, and cucumber, which have already been planted following SHI’s recommendations. The family also grows other crops like corn, plantains, taro, banana, achiote, and breadfruit.

“The desire to work is within one’s self. They [SHI] bring me seeds and, if possible, I sow them in the afternoon. You have to put energy behind your work because if you don’t get excited, even if you have all the best, you just won’t succeed.””

— Vicente Villarreta

An Entrepreneurial Spirit

Income generation for this family comes from diverse sources including the sale of backyard chickens. They keep hens to continue breeding and for their production of eggs. They’re producing two dozen eggs a day that they sell at 20 cents each. Another animal husbandry activity includes raising pigs to generate income. They have two breeding females, two reproducing males, and 17 piglets that will soon be sold for around $65 for each once they have reached one month old. Another new source of income is the sale of ornamental plants, cultivated primarily using resources from the area, such as orchids in the shell of a coconut or a gourd, and with recycled materials. According to María, “Whatever we no longer need, we use as a pot or a planter.”

Cristina feeds chickens and ducks that the family is raising. September 2021. Photo taken by Dayra Julio.

María notes that income generated during this time of the global pandemic has been very useful, enabling her to cover necessities or unexpected expenses that have emerged during the this difficult time. These include household goods, virtual education for her children, as well as healthcare and funeral expenses following the death of her mother.

“The majority of the production is for our family’s consumption and from what we sell we are able to buy things that we’re missing at home.”

— María Balbina

Taking a break from preparing lunch on the stove, María tells us that the income has also allowed her to properly care for her property. She is expanding and improving the chicken coops and plans to expand her goat production by purchasing a male goat. She has even been searching for new land and opportunities to expand her agricultural and livestock production.

It is worth noting that with her humility and high level of perseverance, María and her family members have achieved many of their goals. They’ve created a work team of 10 people (María, her husband, her seven children, and her son-in-law). They coordinate activities with some going to the field and others helping on various projects. There is a huge variety of crops and plants on the farm including fruit and timber trees, as well as ornamental, medicinal, and exotic plants. María explains, “We save seeds and if I see a plant or a seed that I like, I bring it home with me.”

Raising the Next Generation

María and Vicente’s youngest sons, Antonio Felix and Felix Antonio, are actively and energetically engaged in all aspects of the family’s farm. September 2021. Photo taken by Dayra Julio.

For María and Vicente, having educated their children without many luxuries has had a positive impact. It has awoken in them a love of nature, and they have developed creative and entrepreneurial abilities, enhancing and taking maximum advantage of the resources they have on hand. Her daughter sells baked and processed goods such as cakes, empanadas, jellies, and popsicles. Her eldest son grows orchids and prepares pots, while her twin sons provide their support through activities like collecting waste to fertilize plants and searching for food for the Californian worms. They know each step in the process of extracting and applying solid and liquid fertilizers to crops.

With highly independent and self-motivated families like María’s, SHI’s role is to offer more advanced technical assistance that matches their reality: providing them with the necessary support backed up by good technical expertise. The end goal is to help establish community leaders and create a model to follow, which helps facilitate the exchange of knowledge at the local and organizational levels.

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