Day 14

1 1/2 hours of organic farming lessons for young farmers in Mexico

Four pigs for one summer Four pigs for one summer

New perspectives for young farmers in Mexico

The journalist Donaciano Perdomo has only a small income. His wife Esperanza Aldana Portilla looks after their three children during his working hours. The only thing they can offer their children is a small piece of land, which has so far been left fallow. Times in Mexico are unstable, and unemployment among young people is high. So the fallow land is becoming a new perspective for the young generation. His son Ernesto has decided to become a farmer. On the way to his apprenticeship, Mr. Perdomo wrote to his son: "Netito, the brave take advantage of opportunities to grow professionally and spiritually. Imagine what you can learn in the two years of apprenticeship, what you will learn about our mother earth, how you can care for her and protect her against these insatiable interests that want to turn everything into money. Unfortunately, they have a lot of power, but, as the old saying goes, when the last fish has disappeared from the rivers, they will realize that money is not the most important thing."

need

Increasing income opportunities through training for young farmers in Veracruz.

activity

At the Agrosol training center, young farmers receive comprehensive training in organic farming, processing and marketing.

Measurable performance

Number of lessons in organic farming that can be financed for the young people through the donation.

Result

Up to 20 trainees who cannot cover the costs themselves will receive scholarships.

Systemically relevant impact

Improved income opportunities and increased food security for small farmers in Veracruz

background

Violence and corruption reign in many regions of Mexico. Rival gangs have been fighting for dominance over the drug trade for years. Since 2006, more than 17,700 people have been killed and almost 30,000 are missing.

Veracruz is the sad leader in many statistics: There is a bloody conflict here between the drug cartels Los Zetas and Jalisco Nueva Generación. According to non-governmental organizations, almost two thirds of the cases in which people disappear without a trace can be found in Veracruz. At the beginning of March 2017, one of the largest mass graves in Mexican history was opened here. Veracruz's former governor Javier Duarte (2010-2016) is on the run due to allegations of corruption and embezzlement. 52.6% of the population live below the poverty line. 26% of children and young people between the ages of six and 15 have no primary school education. Youth unemployment is high.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Veracruz flourished thanks to coffee exports. But the prices of coffee and other important export products such as corn have fallen in recent years. The pressure on small farmers is high. Since traditional cultivation is barely enough to survive, they are accessible to criminal gangs who pay them relatively high sums to grow drugs.

The good deed

At Agrosol, the training center for organic farming and integrated economics, up to twenty apprentices complete a two-year training course in the areas of organic farming techniques, animal breeding and husbandry, processing of agricultural products and beekeeping. The apprentices are children from small farming families or parents with small, fallow land holdings in Veracruz. For these young people, their parents' land is a prospect for the future: if properly managed, it ensures the families' basic needs and their own income. Well-processed sausage and meat from four pigs provide a family with the income they need for a summer and make them resistant to the drug cartels. Today's donation enables young Mexicans to study at the training center.