Scholarships for Women Farm Leaders in Honduras

ABOUT THE TRAINING

Grow Ahead partnered with Café Orgánico Marcala (COMSA) to raise $5,000 to support 10 farmers from the neighboring communities of Intibucá and La Paz for a 10-day Organic Agriculture Diploma Workshop. Participants are introduced to a new philosophy: understanding the importance of changing your mentality and way of thinking in order to value and make use of what you have. Participants develop a plan to implement simple, low cost practices based on enhancing and valuing the resources available to them. Topics taught include: building life with organic agriculture, healthy soils, bioferments, certification processes, evaluation and monitoring, producing farm amendments, rainwater harvesting, and more.

WHY THIS TRAINING?

On average, women make up 43% of the agricultural labor force and produce 60 to 80% of food crops in poorer parts of the world. Women have less access to a range of resources, including education.

If all women smallholders receive equal access to productive resources, their farm yields will rise by 20 to 30%; 100 to 150 million people will no longer be hungry. Scholarships provide women in positions of influence with knowledge and experiences they can share with their communities.

COMSA's trainings are a hands on way to show small-scale producers organic alternatives to conventional production systems that have largely failed them. Closing the gender gap can improve the lives of women, their families and communities.