Sustainable Development Goals 2 – Zero Hunger, 5 – Gender Equality, 11 – Life on Land
For International Development Week 2023 (February 5-11) the United Church highlights Mission & Service Partners who are contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the second year of a three-year project, the Association of Economic and Social Development Santa Marta (ADES), through the Dora Alicia Sorto School Farm Project, in El Salvador, trains small-farming families, particularly those led by women, in agroecological practices that protect the environment and produce food that is healthy and nutritious.
Participants in the project can learn about sustainable and ecologically sound farming practices at the School Farm, which they can then apply on their plots. Forty-five families participate in the project, the majority of whom are women. The farmers take part in gender and human rights training to address gender bias in agricultural production in a country where many women are heads of households, overseeing their family´s nutrition. Participants grow ancestral and other crops, in mixed plantings that improve soil quality and protect the diversity of plants and animals, traditional knowledge, and rural culture. In the video above, participants Carmen and Reina talk about working together to use the training received from ADES to develop their communal garden and improve their farming practices.
This project is co-funded by the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, the Mission & Service Fund, and the United Church of Canada Foundation.