We were lucky to catch up with Sustainable Harvest International recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sustainable Harvest International, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive organization and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
More than half of the world’s tropical forests are already gone and we are losing the other half at the rate of one acre every second. As a result, more than half the species of plants and animals in the world are disappearing, along with carbon stores, which stabilize the climate.
30-40% of deforestation is the result of small scale farmers. Yet, every day, family farmers are unable to provide their families with the modest food and income they need to survive. Lacking access to formal education and unaware of any other way, farmers in Central America continue to rely on slash-and-burn agriculture.
Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) has partnered with family farmers for over 27 years, providing them with the resources and training to transition to regenerative agricultural practices. Our expertise demonstrates one key component of optimism: people do change when they have the support. Our partner farmers eagerly learn new farming practices that improve their health, their family’s income, and the environment. They learn to reforest the land, reintroduce biodiversity, and regenerate the soil.
SHI’s optimism comes from the people we work with who restore ecosystems and stabilize the global climate through carbon sequestration. Family farmers are climate heroes. They inspire us to take climate action every day.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about your organization?
Sustainable Harvest International was built on the idea that environmental degradation and rural poverty are linked. That’s why the solution must also be linked.
Our proven model equips and empowers low-income farmers with resources to implement alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture, sustain the land for future generations of farmers, halt tropical deforestation, and build strong, self-supporting communities through agribusiness. Partnering with farming families in Central America, our programs have profound and cascading impacts on improving family nutrition, income diversification, regional food security, landscape restoration, carbon drawdown, and more.
We are currently on a journey to transform 1 million farms, plant 1 billion trees, and achieve food security for 5 million people. Learn more: https://www.sustainableharvest.org/million-farm-transformation.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
SHI’s founder, Florence Reed, served as an agroforestry Peace Corps volunteer in Panama. During her service, she witnessed the tragic human component of tropical deforestation: huge swaths of lush tropical forests being burnt to a crisp as desperate farmers sought new land to farm. To make matters worse, the new land only provided enough nutrients for several years before more forest had to be burned down. 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. The human component of environmental preservation is the foundation of our organization. You can’t protect forests without local communities.
Driven to find an alternative to slash-and-burn, Reed did extensive research on sustainable alternatives during her Peace Corps tenure, training farmers on new techniques and tools. Together, they met with considerable success. Collaboration leads to new solutions that work for people and the planet. SHI’s work includes relationship building, not only training.
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. Collaboration takes time in the same way reforestation takes time. Investing that time leads to long-term, sustainable results that nourish communities and the Earth. With empathy, collaboration, and hope, transformation is possible.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We have ambitious environmental and humanitarian goals to meet the challenges of climate change. We cannot achieve these goals alone. Our success depends on our ability to work in harmony with a growing international network. Our partners include businesses, community groups, universities, and nonprofits.
To achieve our vision of transforming 1 million farms, we urgently need to expand our network of funders, supporters, and replicating partners. We’ll need to increase our capacity for providing direct technical assistance to farming families from 500 to 1,000 or more. Our partners can also help us replicate the core, essential elements of our program model while we test and adopt innovations to significantly lower or offset the cost of program delivery. Lastly, partnerships focused on funding can help us access almost a billion dollars in funding through government, collaborations, and networks.
Our team is ready to work with you or your organization in a mutually beneficial partnership that supports our commitment to people and the planet. Join our community today!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sustainableharvest.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sustainableharvestintl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SustainableHarvestInternational
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-harvest-international/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SustainableHarvestIntl
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sustainableharvestintl
Image Credits
Sustainable Harvest International
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