Prométour is excited to partner with Taking Root to offer our traveling groups the opportunity to offset their carbon footprint. Taking Root is a non-profit organization that develops social reforestation projects with small-scale farmers in Nicaragua. We support Taking Root’s mission to utilize reforestation as a tool to restore ecosystems, improve livelihoods and tackle climate change. And now you can help!
Read on to find out more about three farmers who, with funds provided by Taking Root and some Prométour travelers, are working hard to improve our world.
Carlos Emilio Martinez and his wife Miriam live in Santa Rosa, where they run a family-farm dedicated to agriculture and raising livestock. Partnering on a Taking Root initiative, they’ve had the help of family labor and workers hired from within the community to reforest a portion of their farm.
Like many other smallholder farmers, Carlos sees the project as having a very positive impact on his family and his community. The project provides them with economic stability, improves the value of the land, and helps to cover some expenses, particularly during hard economic times.
He hopes that the project will have a very long lifespan and that other farmers will be able to establish additional plantations in the future. He sees how the project has brought benefits to smallholder farmers like himself, to the community in which he lives, and to the environment.
Ada Consuelo Santeliz Hernandez and her partner joined the CommuniTree Carbon program in 2014 by establishing tree plantations on the underutilized areas of their farm. In addition to planting trees, her family farm is dedicated to agriculture. Her family earns their livelihood by growing grain and raising dairy cows.
By participating in the project, she was able to employ her neighbors to help out on the farm: "What I offer is employment in the community for families that face serious food shortages due to the horrible drought this year.” She also mentioned that some hired workers she employed were able to send their children to school thanks to the extra revenue they earned.
Since participating in the project, Ada Consuelo has found that her farm has greatly improved. With the money generated, she has made long-term investments in the productivity of her farm. She has put up fencing to separate the cattle from her food crops and her newly reforested land.
Lidia and Gustavo Ortez own a family farm in El Jicarito which is dedicated to small-scale agriculture. Their five grown children help them to maintain their little property. With the CommuniTree Carbon Program, the family has been able to earn extra income, which is very much needed to get through the dry season when revenue from agriculture is unavailable.
They believe the project contributes to building a brighter future. With the money they have received from the project, they have been able to build a nursery, buy seeds, set up and maintain new lots, as well as earn extra income for themselves.
Gustavo talks about the project from a long-term point of view, explaining how it will improve the quality of life for all participants. He thinks that projects like this one can improve the cleanliness of the air as well as help to regulate the rains.
When you travel with Prométour, not only are you changing your students’ lives, but you can now also contribute to the success of small-scale farmers and help fight climate change! All of that makes for a very bon voyage, don’t you think?