Regenerative Agriculture Programs

Nearly 30 Years of Experience

Since 1997, our multi-year program in regenerative organic farming has supported families on the path to sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Our proven, adaptable model has delivered long-term results across four countries in Central America. We have worked in diverse communities, ecosystems, and cultural contexts. With new pilot projects, initiatives, and programs, we continue to grow and improve upon our original model.

Through our programs, farming families learn to:

• restore tropical ecosystems,

• grow organic gardens, and

• farm with an holistic approach that protects the environment.

By adopting regenerative agricultural practices, farmers experience greater food security, increased income, and improved livelihoods.

Honduras

Decades of logging and slash-and-burn agriculture have severely damaged Honduras’ once-pristine tropical forests. Today, soil erosion devastates the mountains and hills that make up nearly 80% of the country’s land.

For rural farmers, especially those working along mountain slopes, soil degradation poses serious challenges to growing food and sustaining livelihoods.

IMPACT

• 1,234 families assisted

• 8,597 acres regenerated

• 2,502,391 trees planted

• 4,636 trainings conducted

Honduras’ country program is our largest and oldest program, noted for its commitment to community leadership and innovation.

SHI’s recent pilot project in Honduras and resulting program achieved strong results and are now forming the foundation for an enhanced, integrated model. This model has the potential to be replicated in other communities—broadening SHI’s reach and deepening its positive contributions to both people and the planet.

Our Impact

As part of our commitment to long-term, endurable impact, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close our offices in Belize and Panama, and focus organizational resources on our most scalable and impactful program in Honduras.

This strategic decision was influenced by a range of factors, including the current geopolitical climate and shifts in nonprofit funding—challenges that many international organizations are currently facing.

SHI is deeply invested in the farmers it supports, and ensured all Belize and Panama participants had an opportunity to complete the planned programming before closures took
place.

As we concentrate our resources into Honduras, we extend our gratitude to the farmers, staff and community partners who helped make our time in Belize and Panama so successful.

BeLize

The sugarcane industry and other large, conventional agricultural industries dominate Belize’s local economy. High deforestation rates and increasing development make this environmentally rich and biodiverse landscape an important focus. Native flora and fauna are vulnerable to extinction due to devastating agricultural practices. By partnering with local conservation organizations, SHI has helped increase the size of biological corridors, so native animals such as iconic jaguars can be further protected.

PanamA

Extractive industries (such as mining and conventional rice plantations), tropical deforestation, increased erosion due to siltation from the Panama Canal, and slash and burn farming practices all contribute to soil degradation in Panama—threatening rural communities’ food security and livelihoods. Demonstrating the power of agroecology, SHI has successfully partnered with Panama’s rural farming families to transform lands, livelihoods, and local economies.