Because of its success, the project expanded into indigenous communities of the region. During 1993, the communities of Bermeo and Villa Esperanza decided to collaborate. They donated land, and the Inter-American Foundation provided funds to pay community members a small daily wage to build and maintain the fields. The raised fields have produced impressive harvests of manioc and maize. Community members carefully record data on each field to see whether these high levels can be sustained over a series of years.
Little maintenance is necessary to keep the fields in production.
Many areas with similar conditions throughout lowland tropical Latin America could be farmed using raised-field technology. Highly productive raised-field farming could provide sustainable agricultural development for local communities and offer an alternative to cutting down the rainforest.