Guatemala is one of the countries with the highest levels of chronic malnutrition; the statistics show that 49.3% of children under that age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition, 58% of Guatemalans live in poverty and 23.5% live in extreme poverty (ENCOVI 2006); 60% of families do not have the ability to purchase even half of the basic basket of commodities. Poverty, hunger, malnutrition and the deterioration of natural resources are horrible problems that are concentrated in the rural areas and principally in traditional Mayan communities. In spite of the fact that there is a legal and political framework stemming from the 1996 peace accords to confront these problems, each subsequent national government has responded with superficial actions which do not attack the structural causes of poverty and malnutrition. Our reflections, when confronted with this national situation, have led us to define our principal goal as the achievement of full food security and sovereignty for the communities with which we work
Through our Food Security and Sovereignty Program we developed an integrated strategy that permits families to produce larger quantities of nutritional sustenance, to better their economic situations, to learn how to take better advantage of the foods they already have and to utilize appropriate technologies to maintain health, hygiene and the safety of their families and their environments.
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