The pillars that sustain the work of FUNCEDESCRI are: technical training, education for the rescue and broadening of cultural values, and support for local and regional organizations which strengthen and take ownership of ongoing projects. The FUNCEDESCRI Foundation was conceived in 1990 as a response to the social and economic problems of groups of Guatemalan families that had been affected by the violent conflicts of the in the 1980’s. The work of the institution began with the development of emergency projects and services although we also attempted to develop local organizations which communities could use to analyze their own problems and make decisions about the actions necessary for their own development. From the beginning, FUNCEDESCRI worked with a focus on sustainability, taking advantage of local resources efficiently to diminish dependency and create an organic vision for the future.
The pillars that sustain the work of FUNCEDESCRI are: technical training, education for the rescue and broadening of cultural values, and support for local and regional organizations which strengthen and take ownership of ongoing projects.
In 1995 the Foundation initiated with the communities an autodiagnostic process from which together we developed a plan for 1996-2000. This plan included space for the communities to take the role of directors and motivators in the work and the development of projects with a focus on providing economic gains to agricultural production.
At the end of the 90’s famine broke out in many rural parts of Guatemala. At the institutional level we realized the need to strengthen the ability of peasant farmers to produce their own food in a safe and sustainable manner. Between 2000 and 2006 we have promoted local action pertaining to family and community food security. In the communities we have helped develop sustainable agricultural techniques, livestock production, and appropriate technology for the production of the basic crops necessary for healthy and nutritious consumption. Furthermore, we have continued the consolidation of intercommunity processes to collect excess agricultural production, to process these excesses and to commercialize these processed products in order to provide the communities a source of much-needed revenues.
From 2007 forward and with a vision for the next 20 years, the general objective of our work is for the areas and communities we work with to achieve food security that will guarantee that present and future generations will be able to produce healthy foods and enjoy adequate health and nutrition and, furthermore, to have power over production that will permit communities to continue their local development in a fully integrated manner.