VOLUME 37 

2016

Building Resilience to Environmental Challenges
2 Grassroots Development 2016 37

The Inter-American Foundation

Robert N. Kaplan, President

Board of Directors

Eddy Arriola, Chair 

Juan Carlos Iturregi, Vice Chair 

J. Kelly Ryan

Jack C. Vaughn

Luis A. Viada

Roger W. Wallace

Grassroots Development

Journal of the Inter-American Foundation

Managing Editor: Bryon Wells 

Assistant Editor: Cloud Spurlock

Photo Editor: Mark Caicedo 

Design and Printing: U.S. Government 

Publishing Office

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF), an independent foreign assistance 

agency of the United States government, was created in 1969 to promote 

citizen-led development by awarding grants directly to organizations in Latin 

America and the Caribbean. Its operating budget consists of congressional 

appropriations as well as resources derived through the Social Progress Trust 

Fund, channeled through inter-agency agreements and contributed by external donors. 

The IAF prints Grassroots Development in English and Spanish and posts 

English and Spanish versions on www.iaf.gov. The views expressed are not 

necessarily those of the IAF. Original material produced by the IAF and published in Grassroots Development is in the public domain and may be freely 

reproduced. Certain material in this journal, however, has been provided by 

other sources and might be copyrighted. Reproduction of such material may 

require prior permission from the copyright holder. IAF requests notification 

of any reproduction and acknowledgement of the source. Back issues are 

available online. 

To receive the journal, e-mail publications@iaf.gov or write to the following address: Grassroots Development, Inter-American Foundation, 1331 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Suite 1200 North, Washington, DC 20004 

Cover and opposite page: An unidentified man swings a machete to clear a 

tree felled by Hurricane Matthew shortly after the storm in October in Les 

Cayes, in the Sud department of Haiti.

Photo: Courtesy of Keziah Jean of Glenglobe Productions in Haiti.

Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink.
Contents

Building Resilience to Environmental Challenges 

When Resilience isn’t Enough 

David Einhorn.................................................................................................. 2

Let’s Talk Roya 

Seth Jesse.......................................................................................................... 7

Tackling New Challenges with Old Practices in Rural Honduras

Sarah Stewart and Mary DeLorey .................................................................... 12

Seeds for the Future

Luis Eduardo Merino ...................................................................................... 16

Photo Essay 

Maguey Spinners of the Mezquital Valley 

Bryon Wells and Keith Dannemiller................................................................ 22

At the IAF

An Eye for Beauty in Challenging Environments

Bryon Wells.................................................................................................... 30

In the Field: Living with Drought

David Ivan Fleischer....................................................................................... 34

Book Review: Open Borders to a Revolution

Seth Jesse........................................................................................................ 39

2016 IAF Fellows ............................................................................................... 40

VOLUME 37 

2016
Climate change, and the environmental challenges it creates, is an issue for communities 

around the world. This is evident in many of 

the places in Latin America and the Caribbean where 

the IAF works. Environmental phenomena, including 

both persistent droughts and severe storms, represent 

an urgent, tangible threat to poor communities that 

bear the brunt of the impact. 

In this issue of the Grassroots Development Journal, 

we explore how our grassroots partners are building 

resilience to cope with this ever present problem. 

The risks from climate change are many and 

diverse. Some hazards develop rapidly. Others develop 

slowly over many years with effects that are not easily 

predictable. Rising sea levels contribute to flooding and 

population displacement along coastlines. Prolonged 

drought threatens food supply and increases the risk 

of wildfire. Fluctuating ocean temperatures provide 

an engine for more extreme weather events. Seasonal 

storms and massive hurricanes can wipe out entire 

towns — like we saw in October 2016 in Haiti. 

The cover photo for this issue reflects the resolve 

of Haitians to respond to Hurricane Matthew. The 

article inside focuses on how our Haitian partners are 

working to rebuild their communities. For decades the 

IAF has collaborated with Haitians who have come 

together to improve their own communities through 

projects focused on food security, education, health, 

small business development and sustainable agriculture — all priorities that they identified. As we mourn 

the lives lost in several of those communities that were 

hit hardest by Matthew, the IAF will also continue 

to strengthen networks built over time to give local 

people more agency over their future. 

Being prepared to respond quickly when disaster 

strikes can save lives. It is also important to work ahead 

of time to improve community resilience. World leaders recognized that disaster prevention and mitigation 

is a development issue when they met at the United 

Nations in 2015 to endorse the sustainable development goals. They included it among the specific targets 

for 2030 that provide the basis for monitoring progress. 

According to World Bank estimates, climate change 

could push more than 100 million people into poverty 

by 2030 unless communities worldwide embrace effective mitigation measures. 

We are proud to report that the Finca Humana

approach to agriculture, the farmer-to-farmer methodology for sustainable practices championed by the late 

Elías Sánchez, is helping Honduran families weather 

prolonged drought while enhancing quality of life. 

Building Resilience to 

Environmental Challenges
Grassroots Development 2016 37 1

Sánchez’s legacy, showcased in the article “Tackling 

New Challenges With Old Practices in Rural Honduras,”

showed these families how to increase and diversify production using organic and other technologies that are 

less invasive and conserve more water. Building community, they cultivate mind and spirit as much as the land. 

The effects of climate change in Latin America and 

the Caribbean can have national and regional security implications for the United States when it forces 

people to leave home. For example, the U.S. Strategy for 

Engagement in Central America includes the drop in 

household income associated with the damage caused 

by coffee fungus among the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. In 

the article “Let’s Talk Roya,” we explore how grantee 

partners in the region are taking steps to counter 

pervasive coffee rust infestations that are increasing due to warmer, wetter weather. With the IAF’s 

help, innovations to fight Roya, such as organic recipes for natural fertilizers and fungicides, have spread 

from Central America to Mexico and the Dominican 

Republic. Similarly, providing our grassroots partners 

an opportunity to share their experiences has helped 

smallholder farmers begin to reduce vulnerability by 

diversifying their agricultural production to include 

fruit, vegetables, tubers and livestock.

Resilience can also involve using traditional knowledge to bring ideas to the global market, as we see in a 

story in this issue from Mexico. A photographic essay 

tells how collective work is generating supplemental 

income for indigenous women based on the traditional 

practice of cultivating agave in the Valle del Mezquital 

in Hidalgo state, transforming their crafts into popular 

cosmetic products sought by clients across the globe. 

In Colombia, the onset of desertification in the 

Andean departments of Tolima and Cauca is complicated by invasive mining practices that divert precious 

water resources. Mono-agricultural practices that 

reduce diversity of plants and animals increase reliance 

on chemical fertilizers and may ultimately decrease 

yields. The story “Seeds for the Future” shows how 

an IAF grantee partner is bridging communities with 

different interests through model farm schools that 

promote environmentally friendly agricultural practices. In the process they have built understanding and 

cooperation among neighbors through the creation of 

seed banks for the recovery, conservation and management of native seeds. 

The article “Living With Drought” describes 

how communities in the semiarid northeast of Brazil 

are adapting to cope with historic, lengthy periods 

of little or no precipitation. They are building water 

cisterns and rainwater catchment systems. They are 

planting agroecological gardens and switching to 

livestock that are more resilient to drought. Native 

beekeeping and honey production, and small enterprises have enabled them to improve rural livelihoods 

in spite of the drought.

Grassroots Development will continue to highlight grassroots perspectives on promoting resilience 

to environmental challenges in Latin America and the 

Caribbean. Working with local civil society organizations in the hemisphere for more than 45 years puts 

the IAF in a unique position because we work directly 

with the people who are most affected. They know 

firsthand what’s at stake to lose. The stories in this issue 

catalogue some of the ways they are addressing those 

challenges to help their communities thrive.

Robert N. Kaplan

President and CEO

Inter-American Foundation
2 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Wilson Saint-Vil takes notes for a damage assessment near Cavallion, a region of southwestern Haiti on the road to Les Cayes.

A family dries belongings outside their home in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Grassroots Development 2016 37
When resilience isn’t enough

Responding to disaster based on 

community needs

By David Einhorn for the IAF

Photos by Keziah Jean 

Hurricane Matthew needed only a few hours to 

level the village of Anadère. But it could take 

months before the government or any relief 

agency provides assistance to this isolated community 

in southwestern Haiti. 

“No one has come here,” said resident Daniel 

Dieuveuille, six weeks after the hurricane ripped 

through Anadère on October 4, 2016. Dieuveuille said 

all 50 or so homes in the village were destroyed, including those where the 70-year old farmer, his wife and 

extended family have lived most of their lives. 

“We’re surviving on what little we have,” he said. 

“Our hope is in God.” 

Nestled in mountainous terrain bordering the 

Grand’Anse and Sud departments — the area hardest 

hit by the hurricane — Anadère is not easy to reach in 

the best of times. The storm made matters worse. The 

largest nearby road to the town of Maniche practically 

washed out, and the dirt swathes that wind through 

valleys and up mountainsides to Anadère became 

nearly impassable.

Still, Dieuveuille’s nephew Duquesne Dimanche 

managed to make it. He came all the way from Miami 

to bring at least a couple of weeks provisions of food 

and a few plastic tarps to serve as temporary roofs. That 

makes Daniel Dieuveuille and the village of Anadère, 

for all their hardships, among the luckier ones in the 

wake of Hurricane Matthew. 

The hurricane caused more than 500 deaths, 

damaged 1,663 schools, displaced some 33,500 persons, and wiped out an estimated 90 percent of crops, 

according to the Haitian government and international sources. An estimated 840,000 people are still 

in need of humanitarian aid. Ninety percent of the 

population has no access to safe water, and there were 

more than 6,000 suspected cases of cholera in the 

affected area in the six weeks following the storm. 

Finally, the disaster could weaken the food security 

not only of the affected departments but of the entire 

country, since Grand’Anse is a major domestic producer of staples such as corn, breadfruit and yucca.

Yet as weeks turn to months following the storm, 

there is growing concern across southern Haiti that 

the village of Anadère is no anomaly, that the relief 

effort has been slow and limited in scope, and that it 

has not been reaching those most in need. The government has yet to put in place a reconstruction plan 

for the region, and there was limited coordination 

in the immediate aftermath of the storm among the 

major aid agencies involved. 

The Haiti Community Foundation (HCF), a local 

nongovernmental organization and former grantee partner of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), summarized 

the relief effort following a survey of 240 residents and 

local leaders in all 12 communes in Grand’Anse. The 

HCF found that international aid agencies, often lacking 

local information and connections, were not sufficiently 

involving Haitian leaders and communities in prioritizing and planning the relief process, leading in some 

cases to disputes over distribution of food and supplies.

It also said that distribution has been too centralized — in this case prompting refugees from the 

countryside to flood the departmental capital of 

Jérémie. Training local people to put in place longerterm solutions has been, according to the HCF, “an 

afterthought, not a priority.” 

“We obviously need aid because of the dimension 

and scope of the devastation. Crops are wiped out. 

Grassroots Development 2016 37 3
People don’t have food. The level of misery is unbelievable,” explained HCF founder Marie-Rose Romain 

Murphy. “But the reality is that many areas don’t have 

the contacts to access the aid. The people suffering 

most are the most vulnerable — the elderly, women 

with small children and the handicapped. People getting something are younger people with the strength 

to trek their way out of affected areas.” 

The HCF has been through this scenario before. It 

was developed by the Economic Stimulus Projects for 

Work and Action (ESPWA), a former IAF grantee partner and nonprofit in the department of Grand’Anse. 

ESPWA, whose acronym spells “hope” in Haitian Créole, 

was founded by members of the Haitian diaspora in the 

United States in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. A 

report issued by the Center for Global Development after 

that disaster indicated that only a small fraction of international economic aid was channeled directly to Haitian 

organizations and businesses following the earthquake. 

With IAF support, the ESPWA developed the HCF with 

a combined mission to support Haiti’s reconstruction 

efforts by developing the ability of Haitian organizations 

to further sustainable development.

January 12, 2017 marks the seventh anniversary of the earthquake. Anticipating lessons observed 

in past disasters, in the wake of Matthew, Haiti’s 

Ambassador to the United States, Paul Altidor, issued 

a statement immediately following the hurricane 

urging aid agencies to “work with the local organizations and institutions on the ground in order to gain 

their input on the actual needs of the affected communities.” Indeed, some of the hurricane relief that is 

getting through has been channeled through smaller 

organizations, such as those funded by the IAF. Unlike 

the large-scale operations of international aid organizations, the work of IAF grantee partners is generally 

carried out by Haitian professionals who know the 

local area, have contacts on the ground, and employ 

a community-based approach to distribution that 

ensures assistance gets where it needs to go. 

Though the IAF is not a disaster response agency, 

the scale of destruction left behind by this massive 

storm illustrates the importance of grassroots organizations and their ability to mobilize community 

resources. IAF grassroots partners have tailored their 

own emergency social and economic interventions in 

the wake of the disaster to address the needs of at least 

10,000 storm survivors, according to early estimates. 

Six organizations1 are providing urgently needed supplies such as water, hygiene kits and building materials, 

along with an array of services ranging from trauma 

counseling to technical assistance to replant farms and 

restart family enterprises. 

The combined estimates for hurricane assistance 

among the six organizations totals less than $200,000, 

1 At the time of publication the IAF was identifying needs for 

reprogramming or adding funds for three grantee partners: 

Association Planteurs Jonc-Tiby (ASPJ) in Camp-Perrin in the 

Sud department; Organisation de Développement Durable et 

Solidaire D’Haïti (ODDSHA) in the first section of the Commune 

of Cavaillion in Haiti’s Sud department; and L’Ecole de Fabrication 

Métallique pour les Démunis (EFAMED) based in Jérémie in 

department of Grand’Anse. New grants were being considered 

specifically for Hurricane Matthew survivors for former grantees: Konbit Fanm Kaskad-Dibrèy (KOFAKAD) in rural Dubreuil 

and Mouvman Peyizan 3yème Seksyon Kanperen (MP3K), in 

Camp Perrin, both near the southern city of Les Cayes in Haiti’s 

Sud department; Union des Paysans 3ème Section Vieille-Hatte 

(UP3SV) in Northwest Haiti; and ESPWA/HCF.

4 Grassroots Development 2016 37

A woman named Rosemonde rests while clearing debris in the 

commune in Les Cayes, in the Sud department of Haiti.
while estimates of the overall cost of the relief effort have 

already run into the hundreds of millions. However, 

as a grassroots development agency, the IAF’s focus is 

less on the amount of aid and more on employing a 

participatory approach to problem-solving that builds 

community relationships. In that way, project benefits 

fan out to as many people in need as possible and facilitate sustainable results beyond the crisis period.

IAF Haiti liaison Dieusibon Pierre-Mérité recalls a 

meeting of the IAF-supported organization known as 

MP3K (Mouvman Peyizan 3yèm Seksyon Kanperen) 

in the Pic Macaya region just days after the hurricane 

devastated the community. 

“What caught my attention was how much the 

participants focused on medium-term solutions. How 

to get seeds so they could plant before the rainy season 

and not have to depend on humanitarian aid. How to 

find chickens and other livestock to begin to recapitalize their family economies. If we don’t address this 

now, they said, we’ll all be starving in three months. 

They understood the problems completely and were 

quite capable of finding their own solutions to them.”

The IAF’s role, Pierre-Mérité explained, is to “let 

communities search for alternative solutions and 

when they say ‘this is what we want to do’ we talk 

about what they propose.” The dialogue not only 

forges consensus on how to proceed, it also instills 

mutual respect while keeping the community as the 

main actor in decision-making. That sense of community ownership in the aid process, Pierre-Mérité 

added, is not always present in communities’ relations 

with larger donors with which they have limited contact. Or put another way, as HCF’s Romain Murphy 

said, IAF grantee partners “are closer to communities 

because they believe in community-led solutions.” 

The plight of a village like Anadère certainly 

comes as no surprise to either Pierre-Mérité or Romain 

Murphy. Pierre-Mérité has traveled with several IAF 

partners and come upon communities with the same 

story: you’re the first ones who’ve come here. Besides 

the formidable logistics challenges posed by getting relief to remote areas, the IAF liaison points to 

other complicating factors that can require localized, 

sometimes even personalized, attention. Examples 

can range from families traumatized by loss to the 

different dynamics and levels of initiative among 

communities. Some storm victims are too fearful or 

even embarrassed to ask for aid.

Grassroots Development 2016 37 5

Hurricane Matthew blew the roofs off of homes in a community near the commune in Les Cayes, leaving rooms exposed to 

the elements.
“There are issues of pride, distance, inaccessibility, 

relations with local officials — it’s a situation that can 

be extremely difficult to understand,” Pierre-Mérité 

explained. 

Sometimes local leaders, marginalized from playing a role in the aid process, simply watch what’s 

going on in perplexed frustration. Romain Murphy 

cites the case of Renold François, a cacao producer and 

leader of an agricultural cooperative in Dame Marie, 

Grand’Anse, who lost everything in the storm. “They 

come every day with helicopters [but] I am not sure 

what they are doing,” François said. “The mayor, other 

leaders and I tried to tell them how to organize the 

distribution. . . It’s not adequate. There are various leaders who can ensure that the distribution can be done 

fairly . . . but they don’t want to listen.” 

As for Anadère, Daniel Dieuveuille said villagers are 

getting by for now on reserves of millet and corn, and by 

selling off livestock that survived the storm. Dieuveuille 

himself lost 16 goats and a cow, practically his entire 

herd. The few trees still standing are so denuded from 

the winds that locals can’t find enough leaves to burn 

trees that fell in order to make charcoal to sell. 

Even prior to the hurricane, Anadère had no 

electricity, running water or medical services, so its 

residents are accustomed to the hardscrabble life 

of Haiti’s countryside. Still, resilience has its limits. 

Dieuveuille said his village is in particularly desperate 

need of cement, galvanized roofing and cinder blocks 

to start rebuilding as soon as possible. The weather has 

been soggier than usual since the storm, and the tarps 

brought from Miami by Duquesne Dimanche are starting to wear thin. 

“They stop the sun, but not the rain,” 

Dieuveuille said. 

Haiti’s rainy season starts in February, and communities like the one near Pic Macaya that have benefited 

from IAF partner interventions are already making 

plans for it. But as the clouds loom on the horizon, 

there are also plenty of ravaged villages like Anadère 

that continue to sit in wait. 

David Einhorn is a regular contributor for the IAF. He was 

the Communications Director for Peace Dividend Trust in 

Haiti in 2011–12, and served in the U.S. Peace Corps in 

Paraguay. 

Keziah Jean of Glenglobe Productions in Haiti is a student 

of former IAF grantee partner Ciné Institute.

6 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Duquesne Dimanche of Miami distributes food and tarps after the hurricane.

Photo courtesy of Duquesne Dimanche
Grassroots Development 2016 37 7

Let’s Talk Roya

How to Cope with the Coffee Plague 

in Latin America and The Caribbean

Winding his truck through the mountains 

and ravines that cradle the coffee groves 

of northern Chiapas, Mexico, Fernando 

Rodríguez of the Unión de Productores Orgánicos Beneficio 

Majomut (Majomut), an association of Tseltal and 

Tsotsil1 coffee farmers, summed up the dark period he 

and other growers had come through. Coffee production and farmers’ income had “plummeted over the 

past two years,” Rodríguez said, “and our organization 

had to let go of valuable staff that provided technical 

assistance to our member farmers and helped ensure 

coffee quality.” 

The shiny, pointed leaves characteristic of Arabica 

coffee plants, the backbone of coffee farms in Mexico, 

Central America and the Caribbean, had succumbed to 

a fungus known as coffee rust, which thrives in humidity and heat. The fungus attacks the leaves of the plant, 

impeding proper maturation of coffee cherries and 

thus the quantity and quality of yields. The impact was 

felt along the entire coffee value chain. Coffee pickers, 

farmers and their families as well as processors, buyers 

and roasters felt the pain. Rodríguez and the members 

of Majomut feared that the fungus would lead farmers 

— their livelihoods threatened — to raze their coffee 

groves and plant grains, resulting in deforestation, less 

carbon capture and even emigration outside their communities to seek other work.

Experts indicate that climate change is the primary cause of the coffee rust blight that spread quickly 

1 One of about 12 indigenous groups in the region including 

Chiapas, the Tseltal and Tsotsil are of Mayan descent.

Coffee rust came from the 

ground and we as farmers 

must find a solution in the soil. 

The answer is there.

— Cristino Amaya, Las Marias Cooperative, 

San Miguel, El Salvador

By Seth Jesse

The coffee rust fungus is affecting plants across Latin America 

and the Caribbean. 

Photo Courtesy of Finca Triunfo Verde
8 Grassroots Development 2016 37

through Central America, southern Mexico and the 

Caribbean beginning in 2012, affecting coffee plants at 

higher altitudes than during prior bouts of the fungus. 

Aging coffee plants, lack of technical advice and poor 

grove management also aided the magnitude of the 

impact of the fungus.

In search of an organic answer

For the 2014 and 2015 harvests, Inter-American 

Foundation (IAF) grantee partners from Dominican 

Republic, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua and 

Guatemala reported losses in production of between 

25 and 80 percent. The fungus devastated coffee trees 

and nurseries, and producers lamented that changes in 

climate facilitated the spread of the fungus. Hugo Lares 

is technical coordinator at Finca Triunfo Verde (FTV), 

a cooperative of 450 farmers from communities within 

the buffer zone of the cloud forest El Triunfo Biosphere 

Reserve in southern Chiapas. He says the organization 

has witnessed firsthand the effects of climate variation and the accompanying dramatic shifts in weather 

patterns. “The climate has been changing, without a 

doubt,” Lares notes, “and the normal periods of rain are 

different from before.” 

Experts warn that weather patterns like El Niño 

and La Niña have been intensifying, bringing more 

precipitation to coffee growing regions. More rain gives 

the rust an environment to thrive, to the detriment of 

its host plants. If weather had become less predictable, 

so had coordinated national responses to threats like 

rust. Governments and providers of technical solutions 

struggled with the enormity of the coffee rust problem. 

Replacing affected coffee trees presented governments 

in the region with difficult financial and cultural obstacles: some offered new and untested coffee varietals 

and many promoted chemical herbicides as a quick fix. 

But for smallholder farmers engaged in certified production of organic, sustainable coffee, chemicals just 

wouldn’t do. They needed effective organic practices 

anchored in agroecology to maintain their organic 

certification and to ensure sustainable production. But 

what organic methods exist? 

By 2013, FTV and other grassroots organizations 

in the region had sounded the alarm on coffee rust 

and began mobilizing to find a way forward. Many 

began countering the fungus in various ways including 

through shade management, pruning and weed control, 

but the scope of the challenge overwhelmed capabilities, 

especially among small holder farmers. The question 

facing the IAF was how to enable grantee partners to 

develop the networks and technical expertise necessary 

to address such a tough problem. As a responsive funder 

that supports grassroots organizations to address challenges and find solutions themselves, the IAF settled on 

empowering its partners to better analyze the coffee rust 

threat, respond and develop networks to access resources 

and technical advice. 

Beyond the coffee klatch — a community of practice

A first step for the IAF was support for the participation 

of 22 farmers and grantee staff from 10 organizations 

in the region at the 2013 Sustainable Harvest “Let’s Talk 

Roya (Rust)” conference in El Salvador. The event provided an opportunity to gain insights on the fungus, 

share experiences, and make important contacts with 

roasters, importers, scientists and other farmers. For IAF 

partners the gathering was a chance to start to build a 

community of practice with each other. 

Between the Sustainable Harvest daily event 

program and nightly IAF partner discussions, the 

conference provided a space to share experiences on 

reducing the effects of the rust and exchange best 

Mexico’s El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in the Sierra Madre de 

Chiapas soars more than 6,000 feet above sea level.

Photo by Mark Caicedo
Grassroots Development 2016 37 9

practices among peers. The aim was that grantee partners would have more resources at their disposal to 

become more effective and feel like they are part of a 

community of support. The participants departed the 

conference determined to find solutions to the fungus 

on behalf of their respective farming communities. 

Engaging the network

Dynamic and engaged, grantee organizations continued to experiment and gather ideas and knowledge 

from multiple sources to address the issue. The organizations’ roots in solidarity moved them to share what 

they learned with others. Two cases highlight how 

grassroots organizations can achieve impact at scale 

through low-cost actions. 

Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial 

de Guatemala (FECCEG), an IAF grantee partner 

composed of eight coffee cooperatives in western 

Guatemala, had tinkered in the highlands with organic 

recipes for natural fertilizers and fungicide as well 

as methodologies for training its member farmers to 

implement the techniques. Reports as well as field visits 

by IAF personnel, congressional staff members and

Guatemalan government agencies, confirmed initial 

successes against rust.2 The IAF approached FECCEG 

about sharing its insights for combating rust and 

FECCEG set about providing technical assistance to a 

number of IAF grantee partners about how to prevent 

and treat the fungus. The idea was farmer-to-farmer 

sharing, a sort of learning hub in Quetzaltenango, and 

the results have been compelling.

In late May 2014, IAF grantee partners from 

Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and El 

Salvador joined FECCEG in Quetzaltenango to learn 

about its techniques to combat coffee rust using 

organic methods and natural inputs (so as not to 

lose organic certification). Their work includes the 

application of an organic fungicide known as caldo 

bordelés, replacement of coffee plants with sturdier 

varietals, proper pruning and shade management. 

These actions weave into the on-going agroecological work that includes worm-composting and use of 

micro-organisms for better nutrient absorption in 

the soil. FECCEG’s hands-on methodology facilitated 

2 The Guatemalan Coffee Association (ANACAFE) asked FECCEG 

to share its experience on this topic.

learning and exchange. After returning to southern 

Chiapas, FTV adapted FECCEG’s techniques to its 

own context and availability of local materials. FTV 

sought financing from allies such as international 

agricultural development investors Root Capital and 

Equal Exchange to expand anti-rust measures and 

used a supplemental grant from the IAF to implement a manufacturing plant for organic inputs (or

biofabrica) based on FECCEG’s model. It also hired an 

FECCEG technician to augment technical assistance 

and training for FTV staff and member farmers. 

Coffee is a way of life for the 447 coffee farmers and 

families spread across 29 communities in the El Triunfo 

Biosphere Reserve.

The farmers of Finca Triunfo Verde (FTV), an IAF grantee 

partner since 2013, produce coffee popular in world markets.

Photo by Mark Caicedo Photo by Mark Caicedo
10 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Encouraged by the advances, FTV later traveled 

to Chenalhó in the Chiapas highlands to share with 

another ally, the Majomut cooperative. Leaders of 

Majomut, which received a grant from the IAF in 

2016, recall the importance of the FTV event, which 

covered the contributing factors, effects and strategies to combat coffee rust. Sharing had gone well 

beyond what the IAF initially envisioned when it first 

approached FECCEG. And results are promising. FTV’s 

new techniques to control rust helped them recover 

its yields: from five quintals per hectare in 2015 to 

nine in 2016 and an expected 10 quintals per hectare 

by 2018. Maintaining high quality, certified coffee 

through this crisis means that FTV’s coffee will continue to command higher prices at market. Premiums 

benefit the farmers and communities and help maintain better prices for a volatile commodity in times of 

variable climate.

Meanwhile, the Salvadoran visitors to FECCEG’s 

exchange event planned to share their knowledge 

with colleagues and local institutions in El Salvador. 

Asociación Coordinadora de Comunidades Unidas 

de Usulután (COMUS) partnered with the IAF on 

an exchange among 30 people in Usulután, El 

Salvador in December 2014. The event, “Actions and 

Alternatives to Address the Effects of Coffee Rust,” 

featured active participation and exchange, handson field work and demonstrations of how to produce 

natural fertilizers and pesticides effective in combating rust. According to Rolando Gutiérrez, the IAF’s 

local liaison, the COMUS exchange3 was very timely 

because coffee rust was wreaking havoc. The gathering “allowed farmers to learn new organic methods 

for dealing with it, and it brought our grantee partners closer together,” he said. It also opened space for 

discussion of vulnerability of farming families and 

the importance of diversifying production, including through cacao. An editorial team of Gutiérrez and 

current and former grantees captured related lessons 

3 In addition to COMUS, the Marías 93 Cooperative, Asociación de 

Desarrollo Comunal Milagro de Dios (ADESCOMD), Cooperativa 

SAN Raymundo and Fundación para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico 

y Restauración Ambiental (FUNDESYRAM), representatives of 

Movimiento de Agricultura Orgánica de El Salvador (MAOES) and 

Confederación de Federaciones de la Reforma Agraria Salvadoreña 

(CONFRAS) participated in the event.

Photo Courtesy of Finca Triunfo Verde

A Triunfo Verde workshop to identify Roya in the field.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 11

and recommendations on coffee and rust in a newsletter that raises awareness on the disease and how 

farmers can respond to it. 

Flexible funding 

The IAF supported two Dominican grantee partners to 

respond to coffee rust through supplemental grants. 

Instituto para la Autogestión y el Desarrollo de Base 

(INADEB) and Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples San 

Rafael (SAN RAFAEL) received additional funds to 

address coffee rust, and each is implementing a version of FECCEG’s manufacturing plant for organic 

inputs (the biofabrica) that they observed during the 

2014 exchange. These organizations also are taking 

steps to diversify their production and income sources 

to reduce their vulnerability to blights and diseases. 

Coffee rust will likely resurge, and current coffee 

growing regions may become unsuitable for the crop 

as temperatures rise and weather patterns shift. For 

smallholder farmers and their grassroots organizations, 

this latest coffee crisis has brought home the urgency 

of diversifying their agriculture to include fruit, vegetables, tubers and livestock. This expanded production 

will reduce vulnerability of farmers and their families during the development phase of replacing their 

coffee plants and during downturns in the commodity 

market and coffee prices in general.

This coffee rust crisis brought into relief the resilience and dynamism of grassroots organizations in 

Latin America and the Caribbean who are capable 

of responding to opportunities and challenges. It 

brought home the importance of linking the IAF’s 

grassroots partners, sharing and building on lessons, 

and of being flexible enough as a funder to allow 

grantees to adapt to changes in context, including 

changes in climate. 

Seth Jesse is the foundation representative for Mexico at 

the IAF, where he has also served as representative for 

El Salvador.

Sacks of coffee from the Unión de Productores Orgánicos 

Beneficio Majomut in Chiapas. 

A farmer picks coffee cherries in Mexico’s El Triunfo 

Biosphere Reserve.

Photos by Mark Caicedo
12 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Today’s widespread environmental challenges 

pose threats at different scales. Globally, warming oceans fuel superstorms of larger proportions 

and increased frequency. Locally, droughts limit production and increase vulnerability of crops and forests to 

pest outbreaks. Emerging new technologies address some 

of these challenges. However, in the case of Honduras, 

a 30-year-old, integrated and transformative approach 

to small scale farming called the Finca Humana (Human 

Farm) continues to show the best promise as a defense 

against these challenges at the microscale. 

Over the last several years, Honduras has faced 

three particularly serious environmental issues 

assumed to be associated with a changing climate: a 

coffee rust1 outbreak that devastated one of the most 

important export crops in the country; a sustained 

drought that required international humanitarian assistance to address growing hunger in the countryside; 

and a pine bark beetle infestation that is destroying 

forests throughout the country, the full impact of 

which is not yet known. These are likely just a taste of 

potentially more serious outbreaks to come in a country deemed a climate “hot spot.” More importantly, 

these outbreaks and drought reveal both the impact 

such environmental events can have on the economy 

and the country’s natural resource base, as well as what 

strategies are most effective in mitigating their impacts. 

Before climate change was even a globally recognized term, the Finca Humana approach grew and 

spread across the country (but especially in western 

1 Read more on how the IAF’s grantee partners are confronting 

this outbreak in this issue on page 7.

Honduras). It continues to be a widely used methodology on the local scale, offering resilience to families 

during the 2015 drought and 2016 harsh dry season. 

Local and national government action is also necessary 

to address the protection of ecosystem services at the 

watershed, landscape and regional scales. At the family 

level or microscale, the Finca Humana approach continues to show particular promise as an effective strategy 

against climate-related events even after 30 years. 

The enduring legacy of Finca Humana 

The founder of the Finca Humana approach in 

Honduras, Elías Sánchez, has been immortalized in 

books such as “Two Ears of Corn” by Roland Bunch 

and several articles2 and videos, as well as in the hearts 

and minds of many Hondurans. The approach espouses 

a human-centered focus with a farmer-to-farmer, 

integrated methodology that promotes environmentally friendly agroecological techniques, optimal use 

of water and other resources, and a transformation of 

farmers as well as farm practices. Sánchez inspired the 

creation of many non-governmental organizations in 

2 Including in the Grassroots Development Journal 2008, “The 

Agricultural Gospel of Elías Sánchez,” by Patrick Breslin.

Tackling new 

challenges with 

old practices in 

rural Honduras

Story and Photographs by Sarah Stewart and Mary DeLorey

Elías Sánchez

IAF file photo
Grassroots Development 2016 37 13

Honduras that use this approach to improve food security, protect the environment and strengthen family 

and community bonds. 

The Finca Humana approach seeks to increase 

and diversify production on small plots of land using 

organic, plant-and animal-based fertilizers and biopesticides and by making low-cost structural changes to 

the topography. And it focuses on cultivating the mind 

and spirit as much as the land. It aims to manage waste 

and to capture, store and conserve water using simple, 

low-cost technologies. Small animals are housed in 

pens and fed a homemade, low-cost diet. A small 

number of committed producers slowly and organically convince neighbors by demonstrating successes 

in the quality and quantity of production (of crops and 

animals) and improved access to and quality of natural 

resources (water and soil). A focus on mutual assistance 

between farmers, and a willingness to pass on the 

information and techniques to others, complement the 

physical changes to the land. Over time, these changes 

together can lead to a better diet, stronger families and 

enhanced community relationships. But, as one farmer 

noted, “it doesn’t work without a deliberate, mindful 

and heartfelt effort.”

Better livelihoods through improved techniques

In Central America livelihoods are directly tied to the 

natural environment. The International Center for 

Tropical Agriculture in Colombia conducts research 

aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture 

in the region and notes that changing environmental 

conditions have the effect of keeping people trapped in 

poverty: “Their efforts to escape are thwarted by rapid 

degradation of soils, water and forests. In addition, 

the region’s agriculture, already hindered by erratic 

weather, faces a significant threat.” 

Evidence of the success of the Finca Humana

approach as a potential strategy to combat climate 

change while also improving the quality of life 

in rural areas can be found in Grupo Güinopeño 

Ambientalista (Grupo Guía). This IAF grantee partner located in the Guinope municipality of El Paraíso 

in eastern Honduras weathered severe drought, and 

the farmers they work with enthusiastically praise the 

approach for the improvement in vegetative cover, 

productive outputs, nutrition and even family and 

community relationships. 

In the Picadero community of neighboring 

Yauyupe municipality, Dania Sierra and Osman 

Sánchez incorporated more than 20 varieties of crops, 

fruit trees, and medicinal and other plants into a 

small garden beside their house, ensuring food security throughout the year. The young couple separates 

organic waste for composting and keeps non-organic 

waste in a sack to prevent soil and water contamination. Their plants are heat and drought tolerant, and 

they now produce seeds to maintain their garden. 

Seeing what neighbors were doing motivated Deisy 

Ávila and Rodolfo Fernández to set up the same agroecological system behind their house. Deisy is slowly 

building up the diversity of her garden. She captures 

water from the roof of her house and uses a gray water 

filtration system using successive compartments of 

stone, sand and charcoal, with the runoff flowing into 

a large tank she built. She planted shade trees around 

the tank to prevent evaporation. She and other women 

in the community learned to create a wide range of 

nutritious meals and drinks using new crops from their 

gardens. Deisy uses as much of the plants she grows as 

Deisy Ávila shares organic fertilizer she uses in her garden.
14 Grassroots Development 2016 37

possible and her family’s diet has become healthier. 

She is also more conscious about waste because of the 

effort they put in. “We don’t discard anything, because 

it’s hard work,” she said.

Together with a group of 15 community members, 

she makes large batches of organic products to improve 

growing conditions in her garden, such as Forefun, a 

fertilizer, insect repellent and fungicide (made from 

chicken dung, molasses, lime, ash and water), and 

Madrifol, a fertilizer and insect repellent (made from 

the leaves of the Madreado tree Gliricidia sepium, lime, 

water, and sugar cane juice or molasses). The group 

then distributes the compound among themselves. 

She knows how important it is to learn and share from 

others. Her neighbors recognized her efforts with an 

award for the best garden. When asked about the sustainability of her garden, Deisy says, “I don’t let it fall 

apart; the trees are like my children.” 

Reaching a tipping point 

Those who think someone over 50 would be unwilling to try out new farming methods should meet 

Santos Palma. We met Santos at his house in the 

Yauyupe town center. He admits that his generation moved away from implementing diverse plots 

like those of his grandfather, but with Grupo Guía’s 

guidance and the support of some neighbors, Santos 

transformed his small backyard space. At initial 

glance, his garden looks overgrown and unwieldy, 

but he proudly pointed out the diversity of plants, 

including yucca, which he used to buy in the market. 

He was so committed to making the most of his 

garden that he asked a neighbor if he could expand in 

that direction. Santos even does experiments to test 

production levels of using organic versus a popular agrochemical treatment. He concluded that the 

agrochemical yielded greener plants, but the organic 

treatment coupled with manual manipulation yielded 

better overall production. In addition to adopting 

organic techniques in his garden, Santos changed 

the way he manages his small plot of land outside of 

town. He uses organic products and no longer burns 

before planting. 

Santos is so convinced of his transition to organic 

that he is now trying to influence the local community 

Simple water collection systems help catch rain.

Waste collection and management.

Tanks store captured water, and shade trees help reduce 

evaporation.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 15

bank to end investment in chemical pesticides and 

fertilizers. He notes the biggest problem is water availability, which bottoms out in the drier months. Using 

the Finca Humana water conservation techniques, 

Santos stores water, treats gray water and irrigates his 

garden with a small bucket, allowing edible and other 

plants to survive all year. In response to the challenge 

of working with so little land, he cited one of the tenets 

of the Finca Humana approach: the importance of cultivating the mind as much as the land. “Someone can 

have a lot of land, but their mind is not cultivated,” 

Santos says.

Santos’s neighbors Miguel Palma and Helen 

Ordóñez recently started a garden with the same 

characteristics and techniques. Beyond efforts in his 

own garden, Miguel’s talents extend to the community: he is the coordinator of the 14 members who are 

participating with Grupo Guía on this project in his 

community. They have reforested some water catchment areas in the surrounding hillsides. Both Santos’s 

and Miguel’s efforts demonstrate that people’s interest 

in environmental and family health can scale up from 

the personal to the community level. 

An interesting note to the sustainability of the 

Finca Humana approach is the adoption rate in communities over time. “Two Ears of Corn” indicates a 

tipping point of 25 percent. This suggests that if an 

organization supports training and accompaniment 

in a community, and 25 percent of the families adopt 

the practices and principles, then further adoption will 

occur spontaneously and will be self-sustaining. Grupo 

Guía has already surpassed the tipping point in the 

Picadero community by 50 percent, and these families will be better equipped to deal with any current or 

future climate-related challenge they face. 

Whether or not other methodologies can lead 

to a similar result, or whether the conditions that 

led to adoption of these technologies are isolated 

are valid questions. However, seeing how the Finca 

Humana methodology worked in these Honduran 

communities is an argument in favor of supporting 

others to implement this approach and aim for that 

tipping point in areas particularly vulnerable to climate change. The tried and tested 30-year-old Finca 

Humana approach seems not only like a successful 

strategy, but common sense. 

Sarah Stewart and Mary DeLorey are IAF Foundation Representatives for Honduras. IAF local liaison for Honduras 

Norman Sagastume contributed to this article.

Compartments of stone, sand and charcoal filter “gray water” 

for watering gardens.

Osman Sánchez incorporated more than 20 varieties of crops, 

fruit trees, and medicinal and other plants into a small garden 

beside his house.
16 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Native seeds traded by native Colombians.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 17

Seeds for the Future 

S

ince before recorded time the practice of preserving and trading native seeds among communities 

has been a fundamental way of life for indigenous peoples in Latin America. This not only ensured 

food security but also served as an opportunity to 

strengthen communal ties and share practices that 

helped them continue to endure. 

The seed, for indigenous Colombians, has represented the miracle of life and is symbolic to their 

connection to the earth. In the spirit of this tradition, 

Grupo Semillas — or the Seeds Group — a Colombian 

nongovernmental organization (NGO) founded in 1994, 

supports indigenous Afro-descendants and campesino

(farmer) communities in the preservation and exchange 

of native seeds and agroecological practices. In the 

process it also promotes the protection of traditional, 

indigenous territories or resguardos,1 natural resources, 

biodiversity and sustainable systems for food security.

Faced with a clear and present threat posed by 

increasing desertification and the effects of climate 

change, Semillas and its partners have proposed more 

environmentally-friendly traditional agriculture practices to replace conventional models. 

With support from the Inter-American Foundation 

(IAF), Semillas shows how these ideas of agroecological 

methods and defense of territory operate on the ground 

— and at the grassroots level — in the departments of 

Tolima and Cauca. Semillas together with indigenous 

1 In Colombia both indigenous and Afro-descendents have 

constitutional rights that guarantee their cultural, linguistic, 

political and territorial rights, although in the context of the 

ongoing civil conflict, communities have claimed these rights 

to varying degrees. The most organized indigenous communities live in “resguardos,” a legal and sociopolitical institution, of 

colonial origin, where they are given autonomy to administer 

according to their needs and customs. These communities have 

communal land titles and political autonomy. Afro-descendent 

communities, particularly those living in the Colombian Pacific 

Region, have benefitted from a law which determines ethnic and 

cultural rights and collective land ownership.

and Afro-descendant communities created model 

farm schools to address food security challenges in 

both departments, through the exchange of technical 

skills and traditional knowledge. The group continues 

to organize exchanges, where participants visit the 

model farms in order to carry out seed bartering and 

other activities. These include sharing agroecological 

best practices and techniques, and the creation of seed 

banks for the recovery, conservation and management 

of native seeds.

Native seeds bridging communities together 

in Tolima

As the sun passes over the Avechucos Mountains in 

the Andean department of Tolima, shadows spread 

across foothills full of legends and history of indigenous struggles in Colombia. It is in this area where 

the remains rest of indigenous leader Manuel Quintin 

Lame, who fought for the unity, territory, culture and 

autonomy of indigenous communities 100 years ago. In 

October 2016 a group of about 40 people gathered at an 

agroecological field farm school named after Quintin 

Lame, in the Pocará resguardo in the heart of the ancestral lands of the Pijao people. These men and women, 

mostly campesinos and indigenous people, came from 

different villages in the region to participate in a training workshop organized by Semillas with emphasis 

on sustainable ecological practices that will benefit 

their families and their environment. The workshop 

cycles last up to two years and are conducted every two 

months in two-day modules.

The Pijaos, dispersed in 77 distinct communities, 

are fragmented organizationally, compared to other 

indigenous communities in Colombia, into four organizations with some collective land rights. The region 

is characterized by high levels of erosion, salinity and 

limited availability of water, largely caused by poor 

management from large landholders for use as cotton 

plantations and extensive cattle-raising. Semillas works 

Story by Luis Eduardo Merino and Juan Fernando Merino for the IAF

Photos by Luis Carlos Echeverri
18 Grassroots Development 2016 37

with several indigenous organizations engaged in agricultural production with a focus on food security.

Upon entering the resguardo, one is struck by a natural curtain of green made up of trees and plants native 

to the region planted by local inhabitants. “Before this 

was a very arid zone suitable only for livestock,” said 

Rosa Aleyda Leal Tapiero, governor of the resguardo. 

The transformation of this space into fertile land is the 

result of a collective effort since all the families living 

there work together with the common goal of affirming our identity and food sovereignty.” 

The transformation is thanks to the work of 

Semillas and its partner organizations. They have 

focused on promoting productive environmental conditions through the model farm system, and fostering 

exchanges between communities leading to an alliance 

between grassroots organizations and other stakeholders. A key activity, for example, is the work done to 

preserve original, native seeds, such as corn, which 

has many uses and is deeply steeped in the ancestral 

memory of many peoples throughout the American 

continents. Apart from maize, there are the seeds of 

cassava, bean and others. Communities have sown 

these for generations, but now many are at risk of being 

altered or disappearing due to the spread of commercial 

or modified varieties.

Participants in the October farm school met with 

their neighbors to share products from their gardens. 

Some made sweets and fruit jams while others showed 

off their hatchlings of gallina criolla (free-ranged chickens), which forage on natural plants and derivatives 

instead of chemical feed. A group of women found aloe 

vera as a source of natural wealth as an ingredient in 

facial cleansing products currently popular in local 

markets in the region.

For Fernando Castrillón, an agricultural engineer and project coordinator of Semillas, seeing these 

community interactions is one of the highlights of 

the training workshops. “Friendships are woven here 

— but other kinds of purposes are woven: people are 

building new alternatives,” he said. “It gives us satisfaction to understand that new leadership is emerging, 

with new ways of understanding a territory, and very 

concrete knowledge to tackle the problems of hunger 

and desertification.”

But perhaps the most emblematic case of resilience to environmental challenges occurs in the

Ilarquito resguardo in the municipality of Ortega. 

Where once the lands were parched and did not produce much, crops and gardens now thrive. Technical 

support from Semillas and professionals from several 

universities and institutions, coupled with communal 

ancestral knowledge, resulted in a culmination of best 

practices. Residents built circular vegetable gardens as 

a strategy to adapt to changing environments. These 

allow them to not only produce food such as beans, 

maize and a variety of fruits, but also to plant more 

trees to protect the ecosystem. In the process they 

replenish forests, help the soil to better retain water 

and contribute to all-around improvement of the A group of about 40 people at the agroecological field farm 

school Manuel Quintin Lame, in the Pocará resguardo.

Rosa Aleyda Leal Tapiero, governor of the Pocará resguardo.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 19

conditions in the region. In the future they hope the 

nurseries they are now planting will grow into more 

than 10,000 trees.  

For Olga Consuelo Vargas of the Organization of 

Indigenous Councils of Tolima, the key to sustainability 

has always rested within the heart of these communities. 

“Ancestral knowledge is very important for our 

people,” she said. “We need to rebuild this identity that 

has been dormant within us. In these workshops we 

are building peace, building orchards, seedlings, and 

becoming guardians of seeds and all that knowledge.”

The “green monster” of sugar cane and the AfroColombian experience in Cauca

In the department of Cauca to the west of Tolima, 

fields of sugarcane are abundant in Villa Rica, one of 

the seven municipalities in the north that are part of 

the agroecological field schools promoted by Semillas. 

These multi-hectare plots were supposed to bring prosperity to the people who devoted themselves to their 

planting. However, as a monoculture that has spread 

throughout the area for several years, sugarcane has 

actually caused more damage than good.

Perhaps most lamentable among local residents 

is the loss of traditional farms, which bore a variety 

of basic vegetables, as well as fruit trees, timber, and 

plants used for medicinal and other purposes such 

as forage for livestock. This supported food security 

and sovereignty for families in the region. Amidst 

the boom in sugarcane cultivation that took force in 

the 1980s, a good part of these farms were bought by 

sugar plantations.

Semillas works with Afro-descendent and Nasa 

indigenous communities who belong to the Unidad 

de Organizaciones Afrocaucanas (UOAFROC) and the 

Asociacion de Cabildos Indigenas del Norte de Cauca 

(ACIN). Historically these communities have faced 

pressure from industrial sugarcane production as their 

lands are encroached on by the use of rental contracts 

that diminish land’s productivity and water availability. They also face pressure from mining and in some 

municipalities the presence of illegal actors such as 

guerrillas and paramilitaries. 

Territorial pressures from third parties have in turn 

aggravated tensions between Afro-descendants and 

indigenous communities. In order to address some of 

A young girl holds an ear of corn, a staple food of the Americas 

for centuries.

Saplings in a nursery in the municipality of Ortega, Illarquito 

resguardo.
20 Grassroots Development 2016 37

the challenges that these communities face, Semillas’ 

activities include a regional assessment on the productive and environmental conditions and availability of 

food, leading to trainings that address any challenges 

at model farms. Further exchanges between communities, for example, through regional forums, lead to the 

strengthening of an inter-ethnic dialogue.

Back to the basics

In Villa Rica residents become nostalgic when they 

talk about how their fincas (small plots of land) once 

produced a great variety of native fruit trees and other 

vegetation. Heberto Usuriaga, an Afro-Colombian 

campesino, said these traditional processes were lost 

when their fincas were bought out or planted over. “A 

lot of people left when the wave of sugarcane came,” he 

said. “But people were not accustomed to such temporary crops. These campesinos were deceived and they 

lost a lot.”

Usuriaga and his family were introduced 

to Semillas in about 2012 when the organization began to carry out the agroecological project 

“Afronortecaucana Formation School” in Villa 

Rica and in the municipalities of Caloto, Miranda, 

Guachené, Padilla, Corinto and Santander de 

Quilichao. They realized they were not alone, that 

there were other campesinos and organizations reluctant to lose their lands and customs — also affected 

by the economic model that prevailed in the region. 

Organized, residents recognized the sum of their 

efforts to strengthen themselves as a community in 

the defense and management of their territory and to 

resolve differences among themselves. 

Through Semillas’ model farms, community 

exchanges and regional forums, families continued to 

embark on a unique path. They shared knowledge, ideas 

and technical practices defined by themselves and based 

on their needs. Through this process arose solutions. 

Building circular gardens and incorporating trees hepls soils retain water.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 21

And many of those solutions are now bearing 

fruit. Betsabé Álvarez, owner of Finca La Estella, along 

with her children has formed a company that will 

make the most of her cacao crops, thanks to participation in Semillas’ activities. Her family operation 

transforms derivatives of this crop into a booming 

industry, bringing to market traditional delights such 

as chokula (rolled balls of chocolate), sweets and cacao 

liquor, which are being marketed regionally, and 

soon, nationally. 

Deyanira Gonzalías Rodallega, a community leader 

and member of Semillas’ partner UOAFROC, said the 

exchanges have been beneficial, but challenges remain. 

“We have problems of land grabbing, extinction of 

seeds and loss of water,” she said. “With Semillas we 

were given the opportunity to look at our problems, 

like how to deal with the green monster of the cane, 

which has forced out many native species. This school 

allows us to exchange seeds, knowledge and experiences with other organizations.”

The problem of “land grabbing” from the sugar 

mills is compounded by mining activities that damage 

land and dry up water sources. Then there are social 

problems such as “machismo” or young people looking down on the field work done by their parents and 

grandparents. However, Gonzalías Rodallega, like other 

leaders in the region, believes that women and young 

people should be empowered to participate in management of their communities and lands. 

The work is arduous and will require a lot of effort, 

but there is the awareness that unity is strength. And 

these empowered residents know that the seeds of 

action and hard work that are being sown now, will 

grow into more opportunities and a better future.

The Illarquito countryside.
22 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Photo Essay

The indigenous peoples in the semi-arid highlands 

of Mexico for centuries have known the secrets 

held by the maguey or agave plant. Believed to 

have been domesticated about 3,500 years ago, this 

native plant of Mexico has not only provided the main 

ingredient for the country’s most famous intoxicating 

beverage but also the raw materials used in daily life. 

Fibers from the agave, or century plant, as it is 

known, are spun into threads and fabrics for clothing, 

bags, paper, nets, brushes and other uses. Its fruits and 

saps are used in concoctions for nourishment, sweeteners and for medicinal purposes. And of course the heart 

of the agave is used to distill Tequila or Mezcal — the 

modern cousins of the fermented pulque beverage made 

from the spiny succulent in the times of the Aztecs.

Maguey Spinners 

of the Mezquital Valley

By Bryon Wells 

Photographs by Keith Dannemiller

Fast forward to 2016, and the importance of the 

agave to Mexico’s cultural heritage and identity has not 

changed. For a group of women of Otomi descent in the 

Mezquital Valley in the rural highlands of Hidalgo State, 

they are taking their traditional knowledge of the agave’s 

benefits to the next level: the global cosmetics market.

Since 2012 the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) 

has supported the non-profit Ñepi Behña (Women of 

Dignity) to organize networks of artisan women of 

indigenous descent to reach niche markets and receive 

fair trade prices for products made from agave. One 

of these partner networks is Ya Muntsi Behña (YMB) 

or Women Gathering, a cooperative of 250 women of 

native descent in the region, some 50 miles north of 

Mexico City.

A field of maguey cactus in the community of Boxaxni.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 23

Cooperative members are transforming its fiber, 

fruits and herbs into value-added products such as bath 

sponges, jams, jellies and soaps for sale in domestic 

and international markets. The Body Shop, a British 

company known for its natural products and fair trade 

principles, is a major client. 

Before these products reach international clients, 

there is so much work involved. The women cut the 

leaves from the plants in their fields. They then tenderize the leaves in ovens or over open flames. When the 

leaves are soft, the women pound the long spindles 

to loosen the fibers and then scrape away at them to 

obtain the threads necessary to spin and weave fabrics. 

The accompanying photographs demonstrate the 

labor-intensive steps in this process to reach the finished product.

In an area where many of the men leave to seek 

work outside the community, working of the agave is 

largely done by women. 

Adriana Welsh, one of the founding members 

of Ñepi Behña, has written on the effects of climate 

change in the region in terms of causing a food crisis 

and outward migration to larger cities like Mexico 

City, Guadalajara and even north of the U.S. - Mexico 

border. “For women, the situation is complicated by not 

being recognized as producers or titled landowners,” 

Welsh said. “It is they who have managed their homes 

and taken responsibility for production when their 

companions migrate.”

Organized, the women are better suited to 

market the products they make from the century 

plant to generate income aside from the basic crops 

they plant for consumption.

And the IAF is supporting them to receive a fair 

price for their labors. Ñepi Behña and YMB formed 

the private enterprise Corazón Verde, which has now 

grown with IAF support into an alternative domestic 

market for 520 women artisan suppliers in the states of 

Chiapas, Puebla, Mexico State, the Federal District and 

Hidalgo. They receive a fair price for their work through 

a more direct link between producers and consumers. 

Involvement has empowered these women, and 

they are now thinking on a larger scale. “Through this 

organization, we have learned and we have grown 

through work that is supported by ecologically sound 

techniques that benefit us and our families,” said YMB 

cooperative member Anastasia Pedro Bautista.

The IAF is supporting these cooperatives to diversify more into domestic markets and to develop a 

participatory certification process for products to represent standards consistent with their own vision of fair 

trade and equitable treatment.

Or, as Welsh puts it, “We want fair trade with 

equity, because women are often invisible behind the 

handicrafts they make.” 

“We have everything to achieve with our label,” 

she said. 

Ya Montsi Behña cooperative member Juana Bautista Santiago 

uses a long-handled, curved blade to prune the spiny stalks of 

the agave to be removed to improve the plant’s growth.

In the community of Boxaxni, in the fields behind her house, 

Juana Vaquero Palma harvests maguey stalks in preparation 

for extracting fibers.
24 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Photo Essay

In the community of El Bethi, Rosalia Dominguez Martín roasts the spiny stalks to aid in exposing the fibrous material used for 

knitting the cooperative’s products.

Juana Vaquero Palma carries a bundle of maguey back to 

her home in the community of Boxaxni.

Outside her home in the community of El Dadho, Cristina San

Juan San Pedro scrapes the plants to remove all of the green 

vegetable material and expose fibers.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 25

Cristina San Juan San Pedro’s hands work the maguey fibers.

Juana Vaquero Palma winds treated fibers of the maguey 

cactus into a single thread using an electric spindle at her home 

in the community of Boxaxni.

After the fibrous material has been washed and thoroughly cleaned, Rosalia Dominguez Martín hangs it on a line outside her 

home in the community of El Bethi.
26 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Photo Essay

In the small town of El Alberto, Marcelina Agustin Pedro winds agave fibers into a single thread using a 

hand spindle. 
Grassroots Development 2016 37 27

Women coop members, waiting to deliver their finished product for quality control approval, knit bath sponges outside the group’s 

headquarters in El Alberto, Hidalgo.

Rosalia Dominguez Martín (red stiped jacket), the head of 

shipping for the Ya Montsi Behña cooperative, supervises other 

members in the bagging, labelling and packing in boxes of the 

finished bath sponges that are ready for shipping to Europe via 

the Mexican port of Veracruz. Finished bath sponges ready for shipping.
28 Grassroots Development 2016 37

Photo Essay

In a dedicated area of her small farm, Rosalia Dominguez 

Martín inspects some cactus pads (nopal) that serve as a host 

for the small insects that produce the cochineal dye.

Woman walking along the highway outside the small town of 

El Alberto.

An itinerant ladder salesman walks along the main road passing through El Alberto, Hidalgo.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 29

The local Catholic parish church in El Alberto, Hidalgo.

Cooperative member María San Pedro Alvárez outside her house in the community of El Dahdo.
30 Grassroots Development 2016 37

At the IAF

An eye for beauty 

in challenging environments

By Bryon Wells

T he earliest photo ever taken was a crude, grainy 

image of a rooftop in a Paris neighborhood, 

believed to be in 1828. Since then an estimated 

3.5 trillion pictures have been taken. In the digital age, 

people are uploading 350 million photos per day of 

their surroundings on Facebook.

Some argue that the deluge of “snapshots” circulating the Internet has diminished the power photographs 

traditionally have held in the arts, journalism and culture in general. 

However, for young residents of Ciudad Oculta, 

or “hidden city,” on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 

Argentina, photography as an expression has become 

more important to them than taking selfies or predining snapshots of meals to join those found in 

abundance throughout social media. 

Through Fundación ph15 para las Artes (PH15), a 

nonprofit started in 2000 and supported for four years 

by the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), young people 

from Ciudad Oculta have learned to use photography 

and art as a means to not only express themselves, but 

to open up doors of opportunity. Even 16 years later 

the organization has been keeping busy.

From Nov. 15 to Dec. 2, an exhibit of PH15 photographers’ works was included in FotoWeekDC 2016, 

organized by a nonprofit in partnership with National 

From left to right, Miriam Priotti, former U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Earl Anthony Wayne, Maria Gonzalez, Moira Rubio 

Brennan, IAF President Robert Kaplan and Argentine Deputy Chief of Mission Sergio Perez Gunella.

Photo by Bryon Wells
Grassroots Development 2016 37 31

Geographic as a citywide celebration of the craft. This 

year the event featured more than 150 exhibitions, 

programs and events highlighting world-class photography and providing exposure for amateurs working 

locally and worldwide.

The Embassy of Argentina in Washington, D.C., 

opened its doors to PH15 for a reception and panel 

discussion with the IAF, which was streamed live on 

video through Facebook. The group also received recognition from former U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Earl 

Anthony Wayne and from Argentine Deputy Chief of 

Mission, Sergio Perez Gunella. 

IAF President Robert Kaplan said after the panel 

discussion that the fact that PH15 is still active today is 

a testimony to the agency’s core principle of supporting 

self-sustaining, grassroots movements that will continue long after IAF involvement. The IAF’s funding for 

PH15 ended in 2010, and by that time the group reached 

about 400 young photography students and indirectly 

benefitted 1,500 in their communities. Five graduates of 

the program were hired by PH15 as teaching assistants. 

Two others became professional photographers. The 

students’ photography has been featured in successful 

exhibitions in Argentina, Germany, Spain, the United 

Kingdom, and the United States. 

Visiting PH15 photographer Maria Gonzalez said 

the group taught her and her neighbors to use the 

camera to see the world with a different awareness, 

as well as to depict their community and its residents 

with dignity. 

Young photogrpahers of PH15 express themselves through images.

Fotografos — difusión (A collage of young Photographers).
32 Grassroots Development 2016 37

At the IAF

“Life is a photograph,” said Gonzalez, who became 

a dancer and dance instructor for youth in Ciudad 

Oculta. “I learned how to express myself through 

photography. It captured my mood. Through my photographs you could see whether I was happy or sad.”

While it’s regrettable that more couldn’t pursue 

careers in professional photography, the opportunity 

helped these young Argentinians see beyond walls — 

like the one once built around their neighborhood by 

authorities to hide their poverty from the world. The 

wall has since been removed, but the estimated 10,000 

residents of Ciudad Oculta continue to face harsh conditions such as poverty and dangerous crime.

But PH15, rising from the rough and mean streets 

of the Hidden City, has flowered into an enduring 

opportunity for young people to discover how to 

express themselves through art, to open doors — and 

to dream. Moira Rubio Brennan, a director of PH15, 

said the young photographers will also continue to 

show the world what happens on their streets.

“They are no longer the kids of the hidden city,” 

she said. “They now have a way for their voices to be 

heard. They want to show there are other things going 

on in the hidden city.” Brenda Albornoz.

Ayelen Duarte.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 33

Pamela del Bueno.

Victor Gonzalez.

Eugenio Alfonso. Nahuel Alfonso.
34 Grassroots Development 2016 37

At the IAF

By David Ivan Fleischer

T he people in Brazil’s northeast are accustomed 

to living with drought. This semi-arid zone, the 

largest in Latin America, is known as the Sertão 

— which loosely translates to “backwoods” or “outback.” It is one of the country’s poorest and most often 

ignored regions. Despite the harsh conditions, its people 

rely heavily on smallholder agriculture and raising livestock to survive.

Scholars report that climate change is affecting 

semi-arid regions across the world, characterized by 

“increased rainfall variability and longer droughts in 

the coming decades.” This is evident in the Sertão, 

which is undergoing the most severe drought in 60 

years even as other parts of the country are inundated. 

Even communities that have adapted to the Sertão’s 

harsh conditions are taxed.1

Three Inter-American Foundation (IAF) grantee partners in the Brazilian states of Paraíba, Alagoas and Ceará 

are implementing strategies to help communities develop 

1 “Climate change adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers 

in the Brazilian Sertão,” Burney, J., Cesano, D., Russell, J. et al. 

Climatic Change (2014) 126: 45. doi:10.1007/s10584-014-1186-0.

Living with 

drought

how grassroots 

groups are 

transforming 

livelihoods 

in the 

Brazilian Sertão

sustainable livelihoods and become more resilient to the 

prolonged drought. These involve different approaches 

to agroecology, for example promoting water collection, 

storage and management; working with beekeepers and 

youth to organize production of agroecological honey; 

and creating numerous small rural enterprises, such as 

finance and support for agroecological gardens for vegetable, fruit and livestock production.

“Drought Industry” and other challenges

Geography contributes to this semi-arid region’s vulnerability. Situated between a mountain range to the 

east along the Atlantic coast and a plateau to west, the 

resulting natural barriers prevent humidity and precipitation moving into the area. 

Even in good times, rainfall in the Sertão has averaged about 500 millimeters (about 19.6 inches) per 

year.2 Recently the brief seasonal rains that allowed 

smallholder farmers to harvest one small crop per year 

2 In contrast, the Brazilian Savannah has annual rainfall of 

1,200 millimeters (about 47 inches), and the Brazilian Amazon 

gets a massive 3,500 millimeters (about 138 inches). 

Map courtesy of the Brazilian National Agency for Water, 

Ministry of Integration.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 35

have been disappearing, and the region has gone more 

than 24 months without significant precipitation.

Smallholder farmers who eke out a living in the 

Sertão historically relied on natural reservoirs and 

the few rivers that cut through the territory. However, 

large urban centers on the Northeast coast that concentrate about 80 percent of the population of the 

region have stressed these water sources. The recent 

diminishing rainfall that experts attribute to climate 

change, combined with the external demand for 

water, restrains the natural replenishment of local 

rivers and reservoirs.

Beginning in the 1960s, federal and state governments carried out several programs aimed at addressing 

vulnerability to drought in the Northeast. Special interests grew to exploit the situation, according to Maria 

Carmen De Mello Lemos, professor and associate dean 

for research at the University of Michigan’s School of 

Natural Resources and Management. “Most of these 

programs met little or no success. Much of the policy 

failure can be traced to ‘the drought industry,’ as the 

drought-relief public policy-making apparatus is known 

in Brazil. Early on, powerful local groups captured the 

drought-relief policy apparatus, which mostly benefited 

large landowners and local political bosses.”3

When rains fail, it is smallholder farmers and their 

families who suffer most. As a result, young people 

have historically abandoned the region in large numbers in search of better opportunities elsewhere.

Engaging youth for advancement in Ceará 

and Algoas

In Ceará, Agência de Desenvolvimento Econômico 

Local (ADEL) is supporting youth entrepreneurship 

as a way of making communities more resilient to 

drought. ADEL helped create community centers 

to disseminate knowledge and a revolving fund for 

small loans to young entrepreneurs to start rural 

small businesses. They are using this support for ventures that are less vulnerable to drought conditions, 

3 Lemos, Maria Carmen De Mello. (2003) A tale of two policies: 

The politics of climate forecasting and drought relief in Ceara, 

Brazil. Policy Sciences No 36, pp. 101-123. Netherlands: Kluwer 

Academic Publishers.

Benedito Marques with one of his chickens from his poultry business.

Photo courtesy of ADEL
36 Grassroots Development 2016 37

At the IAF

such as raising goats and chickens, beekeeping and 

agroecological gardening. 

A participant in one of ADEL’s young rural entrepreneur courses, Benedito Marques in the community 

of Carnaúba, Umirim found through market research 

that investing in poultry farming could be a great 

opportunity. With adequate access to water for raising 

chickens, and space for coops, his family’s property was 

ideal for the enterprise.

Marques obtained financial support from the 

Veredas Fund, built a shed and organized a space 

in his backyard, and bought 150 chickens to start 

a business. In 2015 he began selling chicks to his 

neighbors. Marques raises a local variety of chickens — called galinha caipira — that are well-adapted 

to the local weather conditions. They forage on local 

vegetation, are less susceptible to disease and are 

more resilient than the chickens produced in large 

commercial farms. The meat and eggs have more 

flavor, which results in better prices at the market, 

fetching about three times the price of chicken from 

large poultry farms. 

After a year and a half, Marques is already producing his fourth stock of chickens, and his monthly 

income is now four times more than when he started. 

His success with the business enticed two of his siblings 

to migrate back to the community to help him with 

the enterprise.

Marques said starting the business has given him a 

sense of purpose. “At the beginning of the course I did 

not have a clear idea of the business,” he said. “Now I 

am making money. I have more autonomy, and I am 

more involved in my community.”

In Alagoas, Centro de Capacitação Zumbi dos 

Palmares (CCZP) has been working with young 

people to improve native beekeeping and marketing, with a focus on preserving local biodiversity. 

Techniques adapted to the local climate have allowed 

honey production to remain steady even during 

the extended drought. Engaging young people has 

increased their interest in their communities and 

their desire to stay.

Speaking of bees, ADEL also helped create enterprise 

networks like Rede Nectar, a collective of young native 

honey producers. About 10 different producers are now 

using a shared facility to produce honey from native 

bees. The network has increased exchanges of best 

practices among producers, and allowed them to start 

marketing collectively. Native honey is labor intensive, 

but its medicinal properties give it a market value of 30 

times that of conventional honey, which represents an 

important supplement to household incomes. 

Making every drop of water count in Paraiba

In the state of Paraiba, Centro de Educação Popular e 

Formação Social (CEPFS) is promoting agroecological 

gardens and improving water collection, storage and 

management. It created small revolving community 

funds — called Fundo Rotativo Solidario — to benefit 26 

communities in three municipalities.

The community-managed loans have helped 229 

families with funding to build water cisterns, seed 

banks, agro-ecological gardens and ecological toilets. The money also helps to purchase equipment for 

small businesses (such as laptop computers and sewing 

machines) and to invest in community infrastructure.

Cisterns connected to rainwater or roadside 

drainage catchment systems help store the little water 

that does fall for use in dry spells. Composting toilets 

solve sanitation problems where flush lavatories were 

never appropriate and where people relieved themselves in fields or dry latrines. Instead of spreading 

sickness, these bathrooms provide safe composting 

for fruit trees. 

Raimundo Arruda, from the community of Catolé 

da Pista in Teixeira, once left the area because of lack 

of work. Wanting to return to his home, Arruda was 

encouraged when he learned of CEPFS and its efforts to 

improve rural livelihoods.

“I came back and looked for a way to stay here working, and I realized that in even on a small piece of land 

we can live quite well,” he said. “Then came the opportunity with support from CEPFS to build a cistern. I built 

the cistern on the highest rock for water to flow down by 

gravity through pipes. Today we plant lettuce, coriander, 

kale, and chives. This has been important for my family 

because now we have quality food, which we can also 

provide to neighboring families.”

The largest of the three funds began in 2014, with 

about $5,000 in Teixeira and $2,900 in Cacimbas. Loan 

repayments go back into the funds, and the communities have also contributed money to increase the pot. 

These funds have kept their value through 2016 and 

proved to be self-sustaining.
Grassroots Development 2016 37 37

Construction of a cistern in the communtiy of Riacho Verde, Teixeira, Paraiba state.

Photo courtesy of CEPFS

Raimundo Arruda with lettuce from his garden in the community of Catolé, Teixeira, Paraiba state.

Photo by Renalle Benício
38 Grassroots Development 2016 37

At the IAF Development Notes

Lessons learned on sustainable climate adaptations 

in the Sertão

In the Sertão, adapting to drought has always been a 

fact of life for human beings, plants and animals alike. 

In the face of prolonged drought, this persistent ability 

to cope has been instrumental in using scarce resources 

more efficiently. Long-term resilience is defined by 

farmers’ adaptive capacity to adjust and thrive in these 

harsh conditions.4 In true grassroots spirit, the IAF 

works with residents who identify their own needs and 

how best to respond to challenges at the local level in 

order to prosper.

4 The role of institutions in the transformation of coping capacity to sustainable adaptive capacity. / Berman, Rachel; Paavola, 

Jouni; Quinn, Claire. In: Environmental Development, Vol. 2, 

04.2012, p. 86-100.

The strategies presented here are producing results. 

Improved water management and sanitation technologies are giving families more control of resources 

to improve livelihoods. Organizing communities for 

honey production has also been a success, and including young people has given them a sense of belonging. 

The honey now has a brand — Arajuba — and is selling 

well in local farmers markets. 

Access and control of water will continue to be the 

basis for survival and subsistence in the Sertão. These 

grassroots initiatives are contributing to stronger and 

more resilient communities, enabling them to thrive in 

this semi-arid region. 

David Ivan Fleischer, PhD, is the IAF’s Foundation Representative for Brazil and Uruguay.

Local resident Maria Alves stands outside a composting bathroom provided by CEPFS at Teixeira, Paraiba state.

Photo courtesy of CEPFS
Grassroots Development 2016 37 39

Open Borders to a Revolution is a compelling collection 

of essays that brings new perspective to the Mexican 

Revolution and offers the reader a nuanced understanding of the revolution’s legacy. The work helps create a 

break with traditional analysis of the Mexican Revolution 

from a nation-centric approach in which narratives in 

Mexico and the U.S. precluded consideration of cross-border or transnational influence. Here, contributors from a 

variety of disciplines enhance the lens we use to consider 

how Mexican and U.S. histories affect one another. 

The editors divide the volume into “Traveling 

Borders” and “Living Borders,” two sections that 

address the idea of national frontiers in distinct ways. 

Contributors to the first section take on the considerable 

cross-border interaction among journalists, intellectuals, authors, artists and musicians, which occurred 

in a number of ways during and after the Mexican 

Revolution. John Britton’s piece, “From Antagonism to 

Accord,” examines how private property issues included 

in the 1917 constitution elicited reactions from the 

private sector and the U.S. State Department, becoming 

acute in the wake of the Bolshevik revolution and fears 

of spreading communist ideals. This alarm over communist influence in the region in many ways mirrors the 

U.S. position vis-à-vis revolutionary foment in the latter 

part of the 1900s. As Britton notes, anti-interventionists, 

drawn to the ideals of the revolution, reacted to the 

aggressive U.S. position in the print media of the day.

Rick Lopez offers an intriguing look at feminist and 

Jewish themes in his piece on Anita Brenner and her 

role in highlighting Mexican cultural contributions and 

the country’s indigeneity in the wake of the revolution. 

Helen Depar explores the “Friendly Invasion” of Mexican 

revolutionary art in the U.S. and its role in stoking interest in Mexico’s artistic “renaissance.” Artists such as 

Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro 

Siqueiros in the 1920s and 1930s influenced American 

art through their travel, and shows, and through the fact 

that much of their work ended up on murals for public 

consumption. The forays of these artists into the U.S. 

generated interest in Mexican art, easing to some degree 

the U.S.-Mexico tension in the post Mexican Revolution 

period. The exchange fostered better relations while 

engendering an appreciation of Mexican indigenous 

themes and popular culture.

Contributors to the second section of the volume 

address the varied ways that Mexican identity has 

developed on the U.S.-Mexico border and within the 

Chicano and transnational community. 

Readers seeking a fresh look at the forgotten corners of the revolution will enjoy David Dorado Romo’s 

micro-historical look into El Paso’s role as a launching pad 

for the conflict. The treatment reveals El Paso’s unique 

impact on the revolution during and after the revolution: 

from urban structures that housed refugees and rooftop terraces offering gawkers a peek at the battles across 

the border, to the press offices that served as space for 

Mariano Azuela to ponder and pen “Los de Abajo.” The 

collection is redolent with such insight that advances our 

understanding of transnational thinking and influence. 

For a volume dealing with transnationalism and 

“traveling” and “living” borders, however, the lack of 

a migrant perspective is conspicuous. Alma Martinez 

Carranza’s contribution, “Pancho Villa’s Head: the 

Mexican Revolution in the Chicano Theatrical 

Imagination,” hints at the complications faced by 

1960s-era migrants as their children disconnected 

from their Mexican roots. But what of those Mexicans 

in the U.S. today, and their continued impact on their 

communities of origin? Transnational communities 

themselves challenge our concept of borders; Mexicans 

concurrently influence the places they leave and the 

places they live. The legacy of the revolution affects 

migration to the U.S. and the lives that Mexicans 

returning hope to lead once back in their home communities — perhaps grist for further investigation. In 

sum, “Open Borders to a Revolution” offers an engaging and nuanced look at the Mexican Revolution that 

challenges our assumptions and piques our interest.

Seth Jesse is the Foundation Representative for Mexico.

This article first appeared in the Community Development journal, Volume 47 2016 - Issue 4 and is reprinted with permission.

Open Borders to a Revolution: 

Culture, Politics, and Migration

by Jaime Marroquín Arredondo, 

Adela Pineda Franco and 

Magdalena Mieri (eds.)

Washington, D.C. Smithsonian 

Institution Scholarly Press, 2013, 

275 pp., ISBN 978-1-935623-12-0. 
40 Grassroots Development 2016 37

At the IAF

The Inter-American Foundation’s (IAF) support 

for academic research on grassroots development initiatives and the work of the organized 

poor in Latin America and the Caribbean date as far 

back as the agency’s beginnings. Spanning over four 

decades, more than 1,000 graduate level researchers 

have worked in over 35 countries thanks to support from the IAF. The IAF is pleased to announce its 

Grassroots Fellowship awards for 16 Ph.D. candidates 

from U.S. universities who will join the ranks of those 

pioneers and conduct dissertation research in Latin 

America during 2016–2017. 

The Fellowship Program, launched in 1974, has 

supported doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers 

and master’s degree candidates from throughout the 

hemisphere. The program supports and prepares students in the social sciences, physical sciences, technical 

fields and their professions as they relate to grassroots 

development issues. 

The Fellows, selected on the strength of their 

academic records, their proposals and their potential 

contribution to grassroots development, will focus their 

research on the following topics:

• Valentina Abufhele Milad, (Chile), The New 

School, New York: Poverty and the persistence of 

informal settlements in Chile’s democracy 1990–

2015. Between 1990 and 2015, the Chilean State 

has been committed to eliminating informal settlements. These are occupations of land by poor urban 

residents, who organize to negotiate housing solutions with the State. This multi-method investigation 

will contribute to understanding poor people’s 

actions, the role of grassroots organizations, and the 

relationship between disadvantaged citizens and the 

political system within Chile’s recent democracy.

• Maria Baiocchi, (Argentina, Italy), University 

of Pittsburgh: labor laws and domestic workers’ empowerment in Argentina. The aim of this 

research is to investigate the extent to which recent 

changes in the law that regulates paid domestic 

work in Argentina have provided organizations of 

domestic workers with new opportunities for the 

empowerment of their constituencies, as well as 

whether it provides them new leverage to negotiate 

their relationships with their employers, and therefore positive changes in the social and economic 

conditions of domestic workers.

• Martha Balaguera Cuervo, (Colombia), University 

of Massachusetts: Citizenship in transit, and the 

perils and promises of crossing Mexico from 

Central America. Dire stories of Central American 

unaccompanied minors, women and families arriving at the U.S. border after perilous journeys through 

Mexico vividly capture how the global refugee 

crisis extends into the Americas, and challenge our 

contemporary understanding of citizenship. By collecting ethnographic data at key points of encounter 

along the migrant trail, this research will advance 

knowledge of transnational citizenship.

• Katherine Brownson, University of Georgia: 

Socioecological impacts of payment for ecosystem services programs in the Bellbird Biological 

Corridor, Costa Rica. The efficacy of payment for 

ecosystem services (PES) programs in incentivizing 

the provisioning of ecosystem services and their 

impacts on the rural poor has been heavily debated 

in the literature. This research will directly inform 

the development of a new community-driven PES 

mechanism in the Corridor.

• Isabella Chan, University of South Florida: 

Ethnographic exploration of intimate partner 

violence among indigenous women in the rural 

Peruvian Andes. According to a World Health 

Organization multi-country study on intimate partner 

violence (IPV), in Peru, a high percentage of women 

reported lifetime experience of IPV, especially in 

rural communities. Ultimately, this research aims to 

contribute to the advancement and diversification of 

awareness, prevention, and advocacy programming 

and service provision worldwide to better meet the 

diverse needs of women suffering from IPV.

• Juan Delgado, University of California: Ethnoracial categories of afro descendent populations in 

Mexico. In 2015 the Mexican National Institute of 

2016 Grassroots Development Fellowships
Grassroots Development 2016 37 41

Statistics and Geography recognized “población afromexicana” as an official demographic category. This 

immersive investigation will contribute to increase 

collective capacities of Afro-descendent communities 

to participate in a political dialogue oriented towards 

the constitutional recognition of their rights.

• Anthony Dest, University of Texas: Politics and 

conditions of interethnic solidarity in Colombia. 

This is an analysis of divergent forms of identity politics as signs of a potential rupture in the multicultural 

rights regime. By researching a group of mestizos 

and indigenous peoples that identify as black in the 

Afro-Colombian Community Council of Meseta, this 

dissertation will explore emerging and potentially 

contradictory mobilizations of identity politics.

• Sarah Kelly-Richards, University of Arizona: 

Ethnographic and legal study of hydropower 

governance in Chile. This project responds to 

pressing concerns regarding the impact of Chilean 

hydropower development on rural livelihoods and 

landscapes, especially indigenous territory.

• Frances Kvietok, University of Pennsylvania: 

Youth, language policy and Quechua maintenance in the urban Peruvian Andes. Indigenous 

people in Latin America have long faced historical 

oppression and discrimination, which is the case of 

Quechua speakers in Peru. Nevertheless, Indigenous 

social movements have engaged in efforts to resist 

assimilationist projects and transform societal 

inequalities. This research seeks to understand 

Indigenous youth bilingualism and identity in an 

urban provincial capital of Cusco, Peru. 

• Oscar Pedraza Vargas, (Colombia), City University 

of New York: Investigation of human rights violations associated with mining (Colombia, Costa 

Rica). The research will investigate human rights 

violations associated with mining and the processes 

through which human rights cases become (or fail 

to become) emblematic. It will analyze the interactions of key actors and institutions, such as human 

rights activists, grassroots movements, corporations, 

scholars, courts, documents, mining infrastructure, 
judges, aid agencies, government representatives and 

multilateral organizations.

• Daniel Perera, (Guatemala), University of Texas: 

Examination of the shift of international development aid from the grassroots to corporate social 

responsibility sector in Guatemala. In Guatemala, 

international development aid increasingly gets channeled away from grassroots organizations and toward 

the corporate social responsibility sector. In the wake 

of protests in 2015, Guatemalans continue to demand 

greater transparency and accountability from those in 

power, including the economic elite. This emergent 

scenario raises a series of unexamined and urgent 

questions which this research seeks to address.

• Laura Sauls, Clark University: Regional coalitions, natural resource governance and the quest 

for grassroots development alternatives in El 

Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. This research 

seeks to explain how indigenous and forest dependent communities promote grassroots development 

in Central America through engagement in international environmental governance regimes. 

• Angela Tapia Arce, (Peru), University of Texas: 

How women affirm their identity and reject 

foreign norms of feminine beauty in Peru and 

Bolivia. This project explores how Quechua women 

negotiate power relations through the wearing 

of polleras–the long, full skirt that is marked as 

“Indian” in the Andes. This study will contribute to 

three areas of inquiry — sexuality, aesthetics and 

agency — opening differing perspectives on social 

process and meaning.

• Fiorella Vera Adrianzen, University of New 

Mexico: Political, social and economic implications of reparations for victims of Peru’s civil 

conflict (1980–2000). This study emphasizes the 

micro-politics of reparative justice by examining the 

political, social and economic implications of the 

implementation of reparations for victims of Peru’s 

civil conflict. This research has potential to guide the 

future design and implementation of post-conflict 

reparations in Peru and across Latin America.

• Julie Weaver, Harvard University: Explaining 

citizen engagement in local-level political accountability in Peru. Peru has a host of legal mechanisms 

that could facilitate political accountability at the 

most local level of government. While citizens and 

grassroots groups in some municipalities are successfully holding their mayors accountable, many others 

are not. This dissertation project seeks to explain this 

variation to understand how best to support citizens 

and civil society organizations to begin engaging in 

the political process and holding their local public 

officials accountable for the crucial public services 

they provide. 

• Dustin Welch, University of Washington: 

Comparative case studies on rural energy governance and access to energy in Peru. About 1.4 

billion people on earth have no access to electricity. 

This study will explore how success to bring these 

populations to the grid depends on NGOs’ abilities to 

successfully navigate policy environments and rural 

organizational and cultural ecologies in the provision of energy.

For more information, visit www.iaf.gov/our-work/fellowships.

42 Grassroots Development 2016 37
Grassroots Development 2016 37 3

www.iaf.gov
Contents

Building Resilience to Environmental Challenges

When Resilience isn’t Enough 

David Einhorn

Let’s Talk Roya 

Seth Jesse

Tackling New Challenges with Old Practices 

in Honduras

Sarah Stewart and Mary DeLorey

Seeds for the Future

Luis Eduardo Merino

Photo Essay

Maguey Spinners of the Mezquital Valley 

Bryon Wells and Keith Dannemiller

At the IAF

An Eye for Beauty in Challenging Environments

Bryon Wells

In the Field: Living with Drought

David Ivan Fleischer

Book Review: Open Borders to a Revolution

Seth Jesse

2016 IAF Fellows