Crop Diversification

Depending on just one crop can have grave consequences and leave small farmers open to unnecessary hazards. A slump in the market value for a particular crop could greatly reduce the income of the monoculture producer. Other factors, such as the weather or pests could destroy a large part of the crop, leaving the farmer in ruins.

On the other hand, farmers with diversified production can avoid these risks, provide their families with a healthy diet and derive a whole series of other benefits.

ADIPSA and Crop Diversification

Crop diversification is an important part of our effort to improve agricultural production in San Agustín's communities.

The motive to diversify production arose, in part, from the world coffee crisis. Facing this crisis, we have channelled funds provided by Intermón Oxfam into a comprehensive Crop Diversification project.

This project aims to increase productivity, promote food security and produce surpluses that can be sold at the local level

The project has involved distributing seeds and materials for producing organic compost, building irrigation systems and providing expert technical advice on crop diversification.

Economic, social and environmental benefits

The primary achievement of our diversification project is to promote food security in the villages of San Agustín during a time of crisis. But the project has brought many other benefits.

Families now have a better diet, with many beans, vegetables and fruit available for consumption in the home: oranges, lemons, mandarins, mangos, pineapples, bananas, plantains, avocados, tamarind, chickpeas, cardamom, annatto, plus other fruit and vegetables native to the area.

Where farmers had previously been monoculture subsistence producers, the increased productivity of their diversified plots today has allowed them to produce surpluses which they now sell locally.

The diversification project also benefits the wider community as villagers have a greater choice at the market. The local economy is stimulated since villagers can buy locally-produced food instead of having to rely on external sources. In this way, the project contributes to the food sovereignty of the communities.

The increased family income generated by the project brings other social and environmental benefits.

Some participants have subsequently been able to send their children to school instead of requiring them to stay at home to help with the daily chores.

Our Crop Diversification project emphasises the environmentally friendly production methods, and as a result, participants have found their organic, diversified plots less prone to pests, which, in turn has helped increase productivity. Furthermore, the planting of trees in diversified plots helps attract fauna since trees act a natural habitat for a whole range of different species.

Sustainable development

Our Crop Diversification project has helped our coffee producers get back on their feet after the coffee crisis. It helps draw the community together and works towards food security in the villages. By providing small farmers with the means to progress as independent organic producers, crop diversification promotes sustainable development.

A comprehensive approach

At ADIPSA, we realise that there is no magic solution to the problems facing small producers in Guatemala. coffee crisis. Faced with the coffee crisis, we strove to adopt a multifaceted approach to help our coffee farmers. On the one hand, our crop diversification project has provided immediate assistance by reducing dependency on coffee at a time when prices were so low that coffee no longer provided a living. On the other hand, we also run a comprehensive coffee project aimed at improving coffee production itself and enhancing commercialisation.