Graduating from SHI’s Training Program
When farmers first join SHI’s program, they commit to a multi-year, hands-on learning experience that is guided by SHI Field Trainers and rooted in sustainable agriculture. It’s a multifaceted journey that goes beyond farming to include small business development and strengthening community capacity. In the time it takes to earn a college degree, farmers learn, adopt, and master these principles.
SHI Field Trainers build close relationships with our partner farmers, providing advice, resources, and technical assistance to help improve farm productivity. They also foster a culture of communal learning so farmers can help each other and learn from each other. Still, like students in a classroom, each farmer follows a unique path, receiving support tailored to their specific needs.
Our program takes time because we believe in long-term results. Farmers are encouraged to pass on what they've learned to their children and others because protecting and restoring the land requires lasting, intergenerational commitment.
HONOR SHI’S GRADUATING FARMERS
BY SUPPORTING OUR WORK TODAY.
When farming families have successfully completed the program, they're invited to take part in a community graduation ceremony. Communities graduate together and celebrate together like the communities of La Concepción and Pueblo Nuevo in Honduras, in March 2025. Joined by SHI staff and board members, these two communities celebrated the end of one journey and beginning of another, and the transformation that has occurred along the way. Watch the touching video of these two communities graduating in the video below.
Graduate Testimonies
Ana Dilicia Yanez, farmer and speaker
Ana Dilicia Yanez is proud of her family and community for all they have accomplished, including producing food without harming the environment. Thanks to SHI’s program, Ana and her fellow graduates can now help themselves, their communities, and future generations. In the last few years, SHI field trainers taught Ana that protecting the environment protects her health. She now has a stronger connection to the Earth. She ended her graduation speech with an encouraging message to her fellow graduates:
“Now, it’s in our hands to strengthen the program’s impact and expand it. We have learned not only how to better our own lives, but also how to be agents of change.”
Ana Dilicia Yanez receives her diploma from SHI's Program + Partnerships Director, Jenniffer Zapata.
Jose Granado, farmer, speaker, and community leader
Jose Granado is a well-known leader in his community, Pueblo Nuevo. He helps to lead Farmer Field School (FFS) workshops, where SHI farmers gather and learn skills together. At Pueblo Nuevo’s graduation, Jose delivered a profound speech, thanking God and SHI for building his community’s farming capacity and environmental knowledge. While they will no longer be in SHI’s program, he encouraged his peers to remain steadfast in taking care of one another and the environment. He said, “the lessons are in their hearts,” and they must continue to practice sustainability moving forward. Through SHI’s program, Jose learned the importance of caring for renewable resources. He now knows that protecting the environment leads to nutritious harvests.
Jose Granado receives his SHI diploma from SHI's Honduras Interim Country Director, Fausto Rodriguez.
Graduating from SHI’s program is a major milestone—one that reflects years of dedication, hard work, and transformation. It’s a proud moment for both the farmers and SHI. It is also a proud moment for the SHI supporters and donors who make this work possible.
After graduation, many graduates continue to share their knowledge with others, becoming leaders in sustainable agriculture and multiplying their impact far beyond their own farms and communities. Graduation signifies the end of the beginning, but the story continues in every family, community, and sustainable farm SHI’s program has impacted in its 27 years of improving livelihoods and the planet.
Graduates from two SHI communities in Honduras, La Concepcion and Pueblo Nuevo, pose with their diplomas.
