Food Security and Sovereignty Program
Economic Access to Food and Necessities
Commercialization of the Excess Production of Families
The families that produce crops sell their excess production to their neighbors or in local markets. Certain products are also processed in the agroindustrial processing plants in the rural centers. The sale of these products signifies an important economic support for the family economy.
Processing of Agroindustrial Products: Foods Products, Natural Medicines and
Cosmetics
In each zone of work there is a rural center which is used both as a meeting place and a process center for the surplus production of rural families. The goal of this processing is to create “value-added” products; to this end we produce amaranth and soy flours, a variety of jellies and preservatives, essentials oils and a variety of soaps and shampoos using medicinal herbs. The agro-industrial plants are run by people from the same communities that harvest the raw materials for the products. At the same, we are also constantly experimenting to find new products for our processing centers.
Family Savings Programs to Better the Quality of Life
Traditionally, the only source of work for rural families was the large plantations in the south or north of Guatemala, where rural farmers are hired as temporary labor during the harvest. Their working conditions are poor and many times the farmers return to their communities sick and in debt. As a result of our present work in food security, many families report that they no longer need to travel out of their communities to make enough money to survive, both because they are saving money by not needing to buy food or medicine in the market or pharmacy and also because they are receiving income from the commercialization of their products.
