“When I was a young boy, I remember that there was abundance all around us, but nobody paid attention to it,” said Reynaldo Garcia Blanco, a subsistence farmer in Loma de Cafén, Nicaragua.
“Sometimes the crops we grew were just left in the fields. Now I am learning to make better use of the resources we have.”
World Renew is training farmers like Garcia Blanco, who make less than $1.25 a day, to recognize their resources and then manage and develop them sustainably.
When Garcia Blanco heard that World Renew’s partner Asociación Cristiana para Jóvenes (ACJ) would provide agricultural training in his village, he got involved.
“Even though I grew corn, beans, and coffee the traditional way, I was also interested in learning new farming techniques,” he said.
As a participant in ACJ’s Farmer Field Schools, Garcia Blanco learned about sustainable agriculture practices like using velvet bean plants to produce green manure to cover crops.
“Velvet bean plants contain nutrients that enrich the soil,” he says.
“When I apply them to my crops, I can harvest a good yield because the compost improves the soil’s fertility. Through the field school, I am putting the natural abundance we have in Loma de Cafén to use.”
About the Author
Beth DeGraff is a Senior Project Manager with World Renew. World Renew works in about 30 developing countries worldwide, living justice, loving mercy, and serving Christ.
