Program Overview
The Need
In Central America, the devastating cycle of slash & burn farming does not allow families to meet their basic nutritional needs.
Malnutrition contributes directly to poverty, which leads to increased childhood mortality rates, reduced access to higher education, poor housing, lack of sanitation systems and limited access to medical care.
Our Solution
Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) has worked with families in rural farming communities in Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama since 1997. Using organic vegetable gardens, wood-conserving stoves, seed saving and a host of other projects, SHI's local field trainers work together with families, individuals and communities to preserve our planet's tropical forests while overcoming poverty. Our five-phase approach to solving the agricultural, ecological and economic problems of Central America is innovative, hands-on and long-term.
By the Numbers
At the end of our last fiscal year (July 2012), our field program reported that 652 active participant families and 915 graduate families successfully planted 3,247,138 trees since SHI's founding in 1997. In the last fiscal year alone, SHI farming families, with the help of their local Field Trainers, Smaller World volunteers and neighbors, built 153 wood-conserving stoves and reforested 344 acres. In addition, 213 small business loans were given out for a total of $28,194.
5-Phase Approach
There are five key elements that make Sustainable Harvest International's projects stand out:
1) SHI provides long-term assistance to make sure the programs that we introduce actually take root in the communities. Our projects typically last from three to five years.
2) SHI uses a varied approach to selecting and working with communities, including invitation by community members, choosing communities based on socio-economic and environmental conditions, and communities’ own level of interest.
3) Sustainable Harvest International operates as a skeletal organization with low administrative overhead.
4) SHI understands that effective development and ecological solutions come from the grassroots level. We work to empower local individuals and promote cooperative sharing of knowledge and resources. This allows local individuals and families to learn from each other and become more independent, rather than rely on outside aid, an unfortunate but common occurrence in international development.
5) SHI focuses on building localized communities that require minimal input from external factors or resources.
2) SHI uses a varied approach to selecting and working with communities, including invitation by community members, choosing communities based on socio-economic and environmental conditions, and communities’ own level of interest.
3) Sustainable Harvest International operates as a skeletal organization with low administrative overhead.
4) SHI understands that effective development and ecological solutions come from the grassroots level. We work to empower local individuals and promote cooperative sharing of knowledge and resources. This allows local individuals and families to learn from each other and become more independent, rather than rely on outside aid, an unfortunate but common occurrence in international development.
5) SHI focuses on building localized communities that require minimal input from external factors or resources.
* As of 06/30/2011
Our Programs
Watch "The Don Cheyo Story"
“Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) is the ideal partner… It is one thing to visit the SHI website and read the various reports and informational materials, but seeing the program in action was incredible. It is obvious that SHI is making a real difference in improving the lives of these farmers and their families.” 
Sustainable Harvest International
