In our project, together with our local partner organisations CETM and Agrecol Andes, we promote the establishment of dynamic agroforestry areas to stop the progressive degradation of the forest in Bolivia and to ensure food security as well as an economic income for the small farmers living there, whose livelihoods are often fully dependent on their crop yields. The method creates a natural forest-like system with high productivity, which also rebuilds heavily degraded soil in a short time and makes it healthy and fertile - so much for the theory.
However, after eight years of project duration and more than 280 supported smallholders, the practice also shows that the method of dynamic agroforestry works and is a real enrichment for the smallholders in Bolivia - as can be seen, for example, in the video. Already in the second year after planting the plots, the farmers can harvest so much that they can sell surplus crops on the market and thus earn good money. Another advantage is that the fruits are grown without chemical pesticides or fertilisers and thus generate better income on the markets.
We do not leave the farmers alone during the conversion to the new cultivation method and the subsequent implementation: they are regularly supervised on their plots and instructed in various workshops, for example, on how to recognise and harvest ripe crops and how to prepare the harvest in the best possible way for transport and sale at the market.
To continue supporting women farmers like Sonia Fernandez, we need your help!