Indigenous Women Empowerment and Agroforestry Systems in a Changing Climate - Guatemala

This activity is increasing food security, reducing poverty, helping to prevent climate change and protecting and conserving the environment using the Inga agroforestry model.

Fast facts:

The Inga agroforestry model has been applied in five communities with more than 1,100 indirect beneficiaries;
This activity has directly benefited 350 women;
Crop yields have increased from 115 kilograms to 161 kilograms;
The firewood resulting from the pruning of one acre of Inga can supply a family up to eight months.

The problem

Tropical forests in Guatemala are being destroyed due to the rapid growth of slash and burn agriculture and cattle farming. Farmers and communities burn trees and bushes to clear new farmland and enrich the ground with nutrients. The land is only arable for three years and then new land is cleared.

The solution

This activity is educating farmers and communities on alley cropping methods, where Inga is planted in rows and cash crops can be grown in between the rows. The Inga trees, when pruned, rehabilitate the soil and provide organic fertilizer for other crops. The Inga crop does not need fertilization and can be used as an alternative for firewood, reducing pressure on forests. The practice has become a new source of employment, particularly for women, which in turn reduces migration internally and internationally. This community functions as a model for organizing new ones. Guama is an economical alternative for men and women, which helps to increase the family income of rural families, has a by-product of the commercialization of seeds, firewood, fruits, and increased yield of food staples.

Helping the planet

Guama is an arboreal species, which means it is characteristically leafy and produces high biomass content, contributing to the sequestration of CO2. Guama crops contribute to the stabilization of ecosystems improving the soil fauna and contributing to water filtration in water recharge zones. The Guama plantations are also a source of food for many species of birds and mammals, constituting the habitat for local and migratory species.

Helping people

Families involved in the project have seen a substantial improvement in their standard of living, while implementing environmentally friendly practices that contribute to the mitigation and adaptation of climate change. The main beneficiaries (70%) are women, since they are the ones involved in producing the food staples and applying the agroforestry systems. They are also socializing their experience in the program with more women in the region, which in turn drives up the demand of genetic resources and education in the techniques involved.

Scaling Up

There are multiple social, economic and environmental benefits of using Guama as an agroforestry crop. Currently there are new crops being investigated as a companion crop to Guama: cardamom, coffee and cacao. This will allow diversification and ease of acceptance in diverse regions of Guatemala, allowing the activity to scale up.