Sustainable livelihoods for rural Andean farmers

Greetings to everyone from the Sacred Valley!

We had some busy months continuing to support community-led projects by listening to the needs of the communities where we work. This has brought us to a couple of different projects in the Lares district these past months- amplifying, distributing, and improving. 

First, we have been amplifying greenhouses. Our rockstar community members that have taken full ownership of the greenhouse projects started making their greenhouses even bigger which means that they can produce even more food, continue to expand, and be an example to others in their communities. 

Since the pandemic, we have been getting more and more requests for distributing seeds. The seeds that we do distribute are heirloom and organic. Heirloom and organic seeds mean that community members can save the seeds for future generations and reclaim their food sovereignty without having to depend on the market for hybrid seeds that do not produce seeds. It's a win win!

We also are improving soil quality through capacity building and distributing ingredients that are used to make a great organic fertilizer. Our agriculture team are experts in soil health and believe that healthy soil is the foundation of agroecology and successful food production. 

The projects continue as we fill in the gaps where the campesino farmers need support the most. This project continues to the expand and sustain the livelihoods of so many farmers. We are honored that we can continue to help with these types of projects in communities. We also are extremely grateful for the support we have through GlobalGiving!

Abrazos desde Peru (Hugs from Peru), 

The AASD Team