In Guatemala, indigenous youth are leading action on climate-resilient agriculture.
San Juan Comalapa is one of the 16 municipalities of the Department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Located 48km from Guatemala City, in the central highlands, Chimaltenango sits at an elevation almost 2,000 metres above sea level.
Here, farming reigns supreme.
The majority of the population are indigenous Mayan-Kaqchikel peoples who keep alive the region’s ancestral practices, values, and knowledge. The livelihoods of families in these communities are primarily based on agricultural production, and their main income comes from their harvests.
In these territories, youth frequently migrate to other countries due to the lack of employment and business opportunities. Young indigenous women are the most affected, having fewer possibilities to get well-remunerated jobs.
To stem this outmigration, and provide viable livelihoods in San Juan Comalapa, the Comalapan Producers Association (Asociación de Productores Comalapenses [ASPROC]) is an organization dedicated to regenerative agriculture in the region.
With the mission to improve production processes, contributing to agricultural, environmental, social and economic development, ASPROC provides capacity-building and training activities for young farmers in the region.
The nascent youth group began with the purpose of exchanging good agroecological practices and recovering ancestral knowledge to produce tomatoes under controlled conditions. Over time, they recognized the necessity of establishing a formal association for the production of organic vegetables – such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers – in greenhouses to sell in local markets.
One of the main objectives of ASPROC is to lead training activities for young people to strengthen their agricultural capacities for the facilitation of bio-inputs and biofertilizers to support the production of organic vegetables.
“We are a group of young people working to achieve sustainable development. We have been trained in agricultural best practices, operation and management of the Biofactory where we prepare bio-inputs for the production of organic vegetables.” – Eddy López, ASPROC member.
Bio-inputs improve soil fertility, promote plant tolerance and crop productivity, and do not pose any health risks for the producers during the production or application. In addition, there is a reduction in the use of agrochemicals and pollutants that can harm ecosystems.
The project also established a medicinal plant garden involving more than 19 native species that are used for the production of bio-inputs prepared in the Biofactory.
The planting and maintenance of the medicinal plant garden helps recover ancestral knowledge and restores the value placed on plants for the production of bio-fertilizers and bio-controllers.
“We not only participate in the training, but also put all the knowledge into practice in our native garden, Biofactory and greenhouses. This is the only way we can apply the techniques we’ve learned, and replicate them with others interested in our work.” – Melany Eliza Mux Sajbochol, ASPROC member.
“We have trained youth, so that we can avoid losing our ancestral knowledge, while at the same time we generate our own income, recovering our native plants for the production of bio-inputs and reducing the use of agrochemicals and related costs of our organic vegetable production.” – Moisés Telón, ASPROC Trainer.
The project is titled: ‘Production and commercialization of organic vegetables produced by Mayan Kaqchikel youth using bio-inputs such as bio-insecticides, bio-fungicides and biofertilizers’.
Since 1997, SGP has supported more than 370 projects in Guatemala in the areas of biodiversity, land degradation, climate change, chemicals and waste, and international waters.
For more details on SGP’s work in Guatemala, visit SGP’s Guatemala country page.
For information on SGP’s global portfolio, visit the global SGP website.
AUTHORS
UNPD Nature
SOURCE
Originally published on undp-nature.exposure.co
PHOTO
© Unsplash
© Dimas Salcaxot/SGP Guatemala/UNDP Guatemala
© Michiel Ton/Unsplash
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