Harvest and take care of the environment: A story of home grown resilience from El Salvador

How families in the Ahuachapán region of El Salvador are implementing climate-resilient and economically-viable production alternatives.

View this story as a photo essay on Exposure.

The García family resides in the El Corozo canton of San Francisco Menéndez, a coastal municipality in the department of Ahuachapán, El Salvador. Here, for many years, Ricardo García worked hard as a day labourer. The family owns a plot that they cultivated year after year only with corn and sorghum.

Focused on growing enough to provide food for their children, Ricardo and his wife Gladis were not occupied day-to-day by the degradation of the soil, ecosystems, and the impacts of climate change. 

“My work was very humble. Before I lived only on daily wages. It was desolate, (in my plot), there was nothing. I felt depressed because I didn't know what to do, the drought came and I lost everything.” –  Ricardo

Times have changed. Today, by implementing sustainable agricultural practices including agroforestry systems with a conservation focus, Ricardo and his family produce around twelve different crops on their plot.

Ricardo and his family are combatting soil degradation with organic farming practices using multi-mineral batteries, salts, solid microorganisms, and other components.

“I never thought about how I was working the soil and look how I am now. When I planted these coconuts, they told me I was crazy. The words I gave them were: He who sows, reaps.” – Ricardo

Each member of the García family has their own perspective on their contribution to the plot. For example, Gladis recognizes everyone's involvement in enhancing their production and values ​​the possibility of generating income.

“We all work here. We don't let the stalks dry and when the cassava is ready, I go out to sell it. Thank God I returned with twenty or forty 40 pesos (dollars). When there is squash or okra, they sell quickly. Everyone wants to try [to grow more], enabling them to have their little things, and have an easier time.”

In El Salvador, the contribution of women to achieving food security is broad and includes activities from sowing to harvesting to purchasing and preparing food, as well as caring for and ensuring their family’s nutrition and health.

Providing women with greater access to resources reduces vulnerability and creates more resilient households and communities.

The approach of Kelvin, the youngest of the García brothers, is different. His introduction to agricultural work has been under a sustainable model, helping him to appreciate the benefits of conserving soils and the positive impacts for the ecosystem.

Young people such as Kelvin are agents of change, mobilizing their communities to change attitudes and modify practices.

''Now we are harvesting and taking care of the environment. I want to continue. I want to plant trees to reforest. We established fire patrols and are going to plant grass to have a better image of the plot."

Kevin is motivated to get involved in agriculture and adopt environmentally-friendly production methods, making the idea of ​​migrating less appealing (a large number of young people in his community have left the community in search of other opportunities).

IN THE FACE OF THREATS, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES

The southern area of ​​Ahuachapán has strategic natural assets for the country, such as the El Imposible National Park, the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Biosphere Reserve and the RAMSAR Barra de Santiago site, all of which host an extraordinary diversity of ecosystems. However, it is an area ​​highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including risks of drought, soil erosion, and flash flooding. 

Implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and financing from the Adaptation Fund, the project “Strengthening the climate resilience of rural communities and ecosystems in Ahuachapán Sur”  is focused on reducing the vulnerability of communities and productive ecosystems in San Francisco Menéndez, Guaymango, Jujutla, San Pedro Puxtla and Tacuba, through an ecosystem-based approach  focused on the restoration of critical landscapes and the promotion of productive alternatives that are resilient to climate change and economically viable.

Under the coordination of MARN, the Environmental Investment Fund of El Salvador (FIAES) is working with local communities and associations to establish key areas for restoration, sustainable productive use, and water management.

As part of the project, 3,865 hectares of forest landscape will be restored, through community plans that encompass silvopastoral practices, riparian forests, mangrove forests, agroforestry systems in basic grains, coffee, and cocoa. 

Simona Majano, better known in her community as “Monchis,” wakes up every day convinced of her role as producer and conservator of nature.

Increasing the participation of women in decisions related to the planning and management of nature only enhances the enormous contributions they already make.

“It is important to learn to take care of our mother earth. She is the one who feeds us. It hurts the soul to see birds or rabbits fleeing when a fire comes, their habitat is taken away from them. That is unfair… We are 100% working for the benefit of ourselves and our land. How delicious it is to feel the pure air and that is why we must conserve it.” – Monchis

Monchis understands that, by taking care of the soil, she is also taking care of her future. 

“We are carrying out soil conservation with slope ditches and infiltration basins. We treat the stubble that has the nutrients so that the product from our land has better production and good flavour.”

ADAPTATION BASED ON TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Agricultural diversification is a way to expand options and increase the resilience of producer families. Within the framework of the project, work is also being done to establish more than 30 community seed banks in Tacuba and Cara Sucia, as a local strategy for adaptation to climate change.

With the establishment of the seed banks, the traditional knowledge and practices of the indigenous communities and families of the area –   who have developed and cultivated varieties of seeds adapted to different climatic conditions, allowing them to meet nutritional and cultural needs – are being revalued.

The project promotes sustainable agriculture through agroecological practices, such as the revaluing of native seeds that have demonstrated great capacity to adapt to the climate. Pictured: The ulupilse and marigold varieties of corn.

LOCAL ACTION WITH GLOBAL IMPACT

This push to restore critical landscapes and increase resilience is incorporated into the adaptation measures outlined by El Salvador in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the country's climate action commitments under the global Paris Agreement.

Climate change adaptation is recognized as a priority that takes shape in the protection of people, livelihoods, and ecosystems, especially groups and communities in conditions of greater vulnerability.

The country’s NDC establishes mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change in priority sectors such as energy-transport-hydroelectric generation, AFOLU-agriculture, biodiversity-ecosystems, water resources, solid waste-sanitation, cities, infrastructure, and health.

As well as supporting climate change adaptation in Ahuachapán Sur, UNDP also provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance through the NDC Compliance Agenda Project, within the framework of the global Climate Promise initiative, to reinforce climate ambition, specify goals, and accelerate compliance.