Partners in Progress has continued to improve the health, livelihoods, and environment of its community partners in rural Haiti and Uganda through the Farmer-to-Farmer Agroecology
for Food Sovereignty Initiative (“FAFSI”). This initiative trains farmers on how to grow nutrient-rich traditional foods using regenerative agreoecology techniques that they can apply and refine on their own farms and teach to other farmers. Just recently, sixty-six Haitian farmers from 11 communities, including 30 new FAFSI farmers, partnered with Agroecology educators to design and implement farm trials to test various agroecology techniques. And in Uganda, in June, seven FAFSI farmers were trained as Agroecology Educators, who then trained other farmers in these sustainable techniques, and this summer, 34 farmers from four communities in Uganda joined FAFSI. As a result of this continued progress of FAFSI, there are now seven community tree nurseries operating in Haiti, providing 47,000 trees for agroecology systems and reforestation efforts, and nine community tree nurseries in Uganda producing 68,000 trees. As St. Geste Charles, a community partner in Haiti and Director of Ecole Communautaire Gamaliel Deslandes, explained, “[t]his is how we do not go hungry even with the trouble in Haiti. This is the future. This is how we are building food sovereignty—with farmer training in agroecology and the environment, healthier soil, tree nurseries, and cover crops.”
FAFSI Farmers In The News
Earlier this spring the Konbit Vanyan Kapab Agroecology for Food Sovereignty Initiative (FAFSI) and their community-led food relief work was featured in the Blog of an organization called Emanate International. Emanate International provides a platform where leaders in international development share solutions that help individuals and communities in developing nations to become self-sufficient and flourish.
This community food relief provides healthy, traditional foods, most all of which is sourced from FAFSI and other local farmers. So far this year, farmers have provided food relief for 942 families, an estimated 5,400 individuals displaced by conflict in Haiti. FAFSI farmers also volunteer their time to package and distribute the food kits. Sourcing food locally helps support rural economies and ensures displaced families have access to nutritionally dense foods. It also reduces the risk of food aid being intercepted by gangs.
See link below for the blog article.
https://emanateinternational.org/haitian-farmers-provide-relief/