ANNOUNCING OUR 2016-2017 VILLAGE PLANS
We believe that it’s possible to build thriving communities with the poorest families in Central America.
As our long-term supporters, you know this is not an easy process: it takes time, tremendous effort from our families, close involvement from the staff, and an enormous dose of faith. The path our families take from extreme poverty to prosperity is thorny, full of setbacks and challenges, but also full of hope and love which makes the journey rewarding and transformational.
Success is more than seeing these families own their land—success is seeing families secure their futures and become fully independent. Our village development model has always been based on the premise of achieving long-term village sustainability.
We want to put ourselves out of job in each village, so that Agros involvement is no longer needed, and we can pass the baton of self-governance and economic prosperity to the community.
German and Ester are a perfect example of a family who are succeeding in Piedra de Horeb, but need a final push to help reach prosperity.
Today, we are launching two-year Village Plans to exit 5 communities in Honduras and Nicaragua. These two-year plans prepare each community to transition away from the direct support of Agros by strengthening the productive capacity, market inclusion and community organization needed for village sustainability and self-governance. The plans entail targeted investments in these areas which are essential for consolidating the village’s commercial capacities and accelerating land repayments.
Yes, this last round of investment is very market-oriented. The most impactful investment we can make as we prepare the community for self-governance is in their ability to generate incomes.
Therefore our plans aim to strength the productive capacities, agricultural infrastructure, negotiation skills and community governance bodies upon which the village will rely after we depart. Notice how the graph below reflects this transition. During a community’s first years our investments focus on building the social infrastructure, improving health conditions and education access, and establishing community governance bodies.
This phase is called Village Development (light blue) and covers the Recovery and Asset Building stages in the Path to Prosperity.
The second phase focuses on business development (dark blue), here our efforts focus on ensuring the village has the proper productive infrastructure, systems and capacities to effectively transact and succeed in commercial markets.
Business Development is the phase we are launching now: here we focus on oiling the economic engine that will sustain the village in the long-term and guarantee a family’s ability to repay their land. The Business Development Phase covers the Asset Growth and Prosperity stages in Agros Path to Prosperity. Note that activities of the previous phase such as health and education continue all along the model – they’re just deemphasized during Business Development.
Our commitment to families and you, our donors and supporters, is to leave a community when families reach or surpass the Asset Growth stage. We believe this places Prosperity within every family’s reach while allowing us to shift resources to families with greater needs.
This is our shared commitment and with the launch of our 2016-2017 Village Plans to exit five of our active communities, we will achieve this purpose.
Alonso and his family are close to the finish line, but just need a push to the end!
We know how much you care about these families, this is a critical stage for them, the investments we will be making in their business will be determinant for their long term success.
Here’s how you can get involved:
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VILLAGE PLAN FOR YOUR FAVORITE VILLAGE:
Send us your questions and comments, or reach out to arrange a meeting to discuss in person.
SUPPORT A FAMILY IN OUR 2016 PATH TO PROSPERITY SPRING CAMPAIGN.
The cost to support one family for a year is $6,000. Our goal is to support each of the four families by June 30th.
PRAY
… for good weather, strong seeds, and determination for our families as they continue to learn to grow new crops, take on new challenges, and develop new relationships with important market partners for their produce.
WE NEED TO COMPLETE OUR FIRST ROUND OF RAISING FUNDS BY JUNE 30TH.
Please help us finish strongly and pass the baton of prosperity to all of the families in these five villages in Central America.
Alberto Solano
Executive Director
