how do we partner with family farmers?

We educate family farmers and provide them with the training and tools necessary to become community leaders in sustainability. Sustainable Harvest International's local field trainers work with families, individuals, and communities for an average of four years using a five-phase approach. Visits and trainings are tailored to each participant's goals, preferences, and abilities. To graduate to the next phase, participants must demonstrate that they are ready. 

Participating families receive frequent, customized technical assistance from field trainers.

The Multiplier Effect

When participants graduate from our program, they teach others the skills they learned.

our Methods at work

JORGE CHIrÚ, organic fertilizers in panama

"In just one year of working with my field trainer, I have learned many new techniques for my home garden. I have learned to make homemade organic fertilizers and natural pest repellents. I have been improving the life of my soil, controlling pests and different crop diseases.

I now realize that our garden can produce the food we need for my family’s meals without harming the soil or the environment. My family's health has already improved because of the good food we are eating. I know that in four years, when we are finished working with SHI-Panama, we will have achieved many things."

LUISA PAN, SMALL BUSINESS success in belize

Luisa Pan is the proud owner of a profitable small business in Dolores, Belize. She received a micro-credit loan from SHI-Belize to expand her mini-store. She stocks the shelves with crops harvested from the family farm, including cassava, tomatoes, onions, and plantains.

With the profits, she was able to pay off the loan in less than one year, and also pay off other household debts and purchase school supplies for her five children.

“The business has done well and my husband and I agree that it is important for me to make money to help support our family.”

RUFINO HERNÁNDEZ, PRAISING WOOD-CONSERVING STOVES in panama

Wood-conserving stoves save thousands of trees, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and greatly improve the health of women and children. They use up to 50% less wood than traditional open fires and reduce the amount of smoke and air pollution in the home. The wood-conserving stoves we introduce are a radical and healthy change.

"SHI-Panama taught my family to build a wood-conserving stove. It is marvelous! The great thing is that it burns less wood and has cut down on the smoke inside our home, which makes my wife very happy. She hasn’t stopped cooking since!"

Nelson Aníbal, reforesting honduras

Nelson Aníbal has invested a lot of effort in reforesting his land in the Santa Barbara region of Honduras. He has planted over 1,000 trees of various species for shade and timber, over 8,000 coffee trees, and 500 plantain trees. He also plants more than two acres of corn and beans each year, while maintaining a family garden to feed his wife and three children.

"Before working with SHI-Honduras, we used to burn our fields and depend on chemicals to make our soil productive. Now we know how to take advantage of all the resources around, such as coffee pulp and papaya leaves, to make natural fertilizers."