Emphasizing multi-story forests and mixed plots, subsistence farmers working with SHI-Belize have increased their efforts to plant cacao, a major cash crop in the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts. The cacao seedlings being planted are still at least three years from their first harvest, but when they mature the wet beans will be sold to the local cacao cooperative Toledo Cacao Grower’s Association (TCGA), as well as Moho Cocoa.
During the last quarter of the fiscal year, participant families:
• planted 1,180 trees
• installed 59 composting eco-toilets
• cultivated 67 acres using sustainable and organic techniques
• organized 42 community training workshops attended by 154 families who would like to work with SHI in the future.
At the conclusion of the fiscal year, program participants had planted 12,687 trees, reforested approximately 50 acres, and managed more than 300 acres sustainably and organically.
"I just returned from a 10-day trip to Honduras with Sustainable Harvest International. That small organization with a relatively small staff ... is doing a fantastic job helping the rural areas of Honduras diversify crops and re-forest the denuded mountains of the country. [They] demonstrated a dedication and grasp of both the problems and possible solutions that I found worthy of Nobel prize recognition. The leadership of our Smaller World Tour by an employee of SHI was first-rate. We worked, we learned, we contributed. If there is truly a way to help the impoverished developing world, SHI holds the key."
Sustainable Harvest International
