In Northeastern Brazil, ADRA Trains Low-income Farmers in Sustainable Polyculture

Silver Spring, Maryland?The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is helping to reverse the cycle of poverty among low-income families by training impoverished farmers in the semi-arid Bahia region of northeastern Brazil in polyculture cultivation methods. The environmentally sustainable, low-cost agricultural methods help families increase their household income and living standards.

The aim of the project is to guarantee food availability and increase the income of impoverished farmers through the sale of the crops produced through the program, thus creating a higher quality of life for the families that suffer from hunger in that region, and preventing the forced migration of residents to more urban areas, in search of a more financially secure lifestyle.

The farmers attend student-centered, hands-on classes and seminars in polyculture cultivation methods. Using the polyculture agricultural method, farmers plant a variety of crops close together in the same plot. Crops may consist of native plants, fruits, and vegetables, such as cactus, corn, sunflowers, palms, mangos, yams, and bananas, which work together to conserve and retain water, promote increased crop yields, decrease plant diseases, and enrich soil quality.

“Polyculture offers enormous benefits, such as better nutrition and increased income, for the participating farmers and their families,” stated Landerson Santana, director of the ADRA Bahia regional office. “The project promotes lifestyle changes and helps participants cultivate viable crops. In addition, the project has a scale-up element. Once trained, local farmers and farmer association leaders will spread the polyculture methods among other farmers.”

The three-year project is funded by ADRA International, ADRA Finland, and the Bahian government, including the Secretariat for the Fight Against Poverty and Social Inequalities (SECOMP), for more than $1,000,000, and is expected to end in November of 2008. At least 1,000 families from the cities of Uaua, Sitio do Mato, Bom Jesus da Lapa, and Riacho de Santana will benefit.

“The project will bring greater security and tranquility to the families,” said Father Clodoveo Piazza, director of SECOMP, in an interview with ADRA Bahia. “Overall, it will bring a greater sense of well-being, because the families will have food harvested for the entire year. . . .This program values the nuclear family and provides hope for the future. At the same time, it gives the younger members of these families a mission, showing that they have the potential of a honorable life in the community as well.”

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

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Author: Nadia McGill

Media Contact:
Kara Watkins
ADRA International
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Phone: 301.680.6357
Mobile: 301.526.2625
E-mail: Media.Inquiries@adra.org