Heifer Peru's Country Program is teaching people sustainable farming methods.
Heifer International’s Peru Country Program has recently won that national contest for Innovation and Good Practices in Rural Community Tourism with the work they have done with the project “Sustainable development in the Small Farming Community of Muchik, Chongoyape, Lambayeque.”
This award was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and Pacific University. The proposal that Peru submitted articulated the link with rural community tourism and agroecology. This work is evident in the project work Heifer Peru is accomplishing.
This specific project, “Sustainable development in the Small Farming Community,” was conceived to address the main problems affecting the small farming community of Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape, in Lambayeque, which are poverty and environmental deterioration. Both problems are exacerbated by negative productive and cultural practices, pressure from middlemen, low prices for products and poor use of dry forest resources. This project is working to improve food security, increase income, and improve the environment through sustainable management of the dry forest by strengthening communities so they can participate in local and regional politics. The participants of this project are contributing to rural sustainable development in the community and they are taking ownership of agro-ecological productive and cultural practices as well as conservation of the dry forest. Additionally, Heifer Peru is assisting the participants of these rural farming communities by providing for commercialization, leadership, strengthening gender equity, and sharing of experiences.
“We share this success, where we all benefit from the development of our brothers and sisters in the rural communities of the region and of our country.
By the end of this project it is anticipated that at least 300 families will have benefited by receiving sheep, guinea pigs and beekeeping modules, along with training and technical assistance to develop rural tourism activities.
