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Sano y Salvo – Safe and Sound, First Farmers Association of Culture and production in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region and Central America, Nicaragua (SYS)

President: José Ramón López Jarquín

Year Established: 1998

Mission: safe working to rescue the biodiversity of a tropical humid region located in southeastern Nicaragua and to improve the living standards of its people, promoting the use of environmentally friendly agriculture by a peasant association that meets the forestry and crop diversification and ensuring fair and organic markets at local, national and international levels.

Annual budget: USA $ 149,000

Major donors

• Redeliver Foundation, Germany
• Germany, government
• Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), United States
• Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst
• European Union
• Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) (SECO), Switzerland)
• VOLENS-Itinerans, Belgium / Belgium
• Mennonite Fellowship, Germany

Objectives

• Rescuing biodiversity of southeastern Nicaragua.
• Integrating families in organic production.
• Improving soil through organic practices.
• Promoting diversified agroforestry.
• Producing quality and quantity.
• Getting organic certified.
• Selling products to export organic and fair markets.
• Promoting local markets, offering fresh and healthy products from producers to consumers and consuming.

Description of the geographic area where it works

It work in the Southeast of Nicaragua in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), which includes, among others, Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, Punta Gorda protected area and Cerro Silva and their buffer zones. The humid tropical region is of importance for Nicaragua, Central America and the planet as part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and contains a high biodiversity which was declared in 2003 as "Biosphere Humanity" by UNESCO. 12 municipalities forming the RAAS, and Bluefields, Rama New Guinea and the largest. 25,000 peasant families living in the region and remain through agriculture.

Affiliations: Membership Sano y Salvo is possible only for farmers and organic farmers in the region.

Benefits of membership: "Producing environmentally and living better."

Number of members: 140 (June 2004)

Projects:

1. Prevent progress of damage in the farm-Indio Maiz Biological Reserve and the Cerro Silva Natural Reserve, Nicaragua, through the eco-agro-forestry in the buffer zone

Summary: Members of the organization are changing the course of their activities – which have been harmful to the environment – such as conventional agriculture of grains and tubers, tree felling and the change of use of its forest land to pasture. Now it employs a wide variety of farming adapted to the humid tropics. Associations are used to mimic natural plant systems in forest areas of forests in Bluefields, Rama New Guinea and the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) in Nicaragua.
With the introduction of agro-forestry and consolidation of farms will be stable and profitable agriculture that prevents unnecessary step in the Indio-Maiz Biological Reserve and the Cerro Silva Natural Reserve – the last natural lands in this region of Nicaragua.

Major Achievements

• Approximately 70 hectares have been planted, some cocoa, associated with legumes and other crop plants, and coffee and chagüite were agroforestry crops are also at all levels and strata.
• Installed the system of internal control "as a primary condition for achieving eco-certification.
• Safe is affiliated with the International Federation of Organic Movements Agrigultura (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements) and within it to their groups of farmers or ranchers and the group of Latin America and the Caribbean is also affiliated with the International Network of Self farmers (Farmers Self Help International Network), the Organization of Organic Producers and Producers of Nicaragua, the Coalition of Organizations for Conservation of the Biosphere Southeastern Nicaragua and Civil Society Organizations in New Guinea.

To date we have developed several initiatives:

• Coffee is produced on land and depleted using Chagüite (Musaceae) and temporary and permanent shade trees.
• Sheep have been introduced in pelibuey systems in organic agriculture and agroforestry as an alternative to the production of beef and to meet the requirements for the production of manure.
• Since 2000, it provides the professional service of systematizing agricultural education, learning and training working for farmers as the goal of forming farmers / organic as modern and professional.

Esperanzita takes place in the School of Rural Organic Agriculture in the Humid Tropics, New Guinea and consists of 5 modules of training:

• Basic course of farming in the humid tropics.
• Course about diversifying agro-ecological humid tropics.
• Course of administration and management of the organic farm.
• Course in the organically peasant family farm.
• Course in participatory impact monitoring.

Women of Sano and Salvo are part of the "Eco-Edu-Agro-tourism in the buffer zones of the RAAS” promoting an area where, with the impact of autonomous activity and trade, contributes for the conservation of biodiversity in the biosphere of the Southeast.

Volunteers

They are able to receive volunteers who speak Spanish, who can pay their own expenses and are very respectful of local customs and culture. The accommodation would be free.

We have the experience of:

• Voluntary of Austria and Germany with an interest in organic agriculture in the humid tropics.
• A Peace Corps volunteer, U.S., to assist in economic affairs and accounting.
• Students for Tropical Agriculture of France, who did research for their them.

Related links:

www.ifoam.org

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

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