Asesora e Investigacion Interdisciplinaria para el Desarrollo Local y la Conservacion
(ASINDEC- Advising and Interdisciplinary Research on Local Development and Conservation), is a non-profit, apolitical organization formed by environment and rural development researchers, working with three small-scale farmer coffee cooperatives in western El Salvador.
Mission
ASINDEC's mission is to inform, facilitate and support participatory local development processes in rural landscapes through interdisciplinary research and training, which integrates social, economic and ecological concerns.
Vision
ASINDEC provides high-quality information and training to support farmers and local organizations in the areas of natural resources management, conservation and local livelihoods, and cultural development
ASINDEC was established in 2001 to develop and promote interdisciplinary research approaches as a tool to analyze and resolve social and ecological problems in rural landscapes. The motivation to form the organization came from previous work carried out by ASINDEC founders with farmer cooperatives near the town of Tacuba, in western El Salvador, since 1999. The organization works and is based out of Tacuba, an area of great ecological importance because it borders Parque Nacional El Imposible (PNEI), one of the most important natural reserves in the country. ASINDEC has worked primarily with three distinct coffee cooperatives and the communities that surround them: 1) Cooperativa El Sincuyo (29 members); 2) Cooperativa La Concordia (22 members); 3) Cooperativa Las Colinas (99 members).
CURRENT PROJECT
Interdisciplinary Research for Local Development and Conservation in Coffee Landscapes of El Salvador
The project is the result of partnerships formed between researchers, small farmer coffee cooperatives, and non-government organizations (NGOs). Our research and training activities are designed to inform development alternatives that seek to improve local livelihoods, strengthen and empower farmer organizations and promote ecologically sound natural resources management.
At present, farmers and researchers collaborate in an interactive process where results are used to inform and better implement agroecological management, alternative marketing and local development initiatives.
Research, Education and LOCAL Development Directions
In March 2002, a series of workshops were held with cooperative members to discuss alternatives to the coffee price crisis. Farmers decided that the best options would be related to the following broad topics:
- Diversification of their livelihood strategies, including coffee plantations and other options, both for the short and the long-term.
- Expanding their knowledge of and sales through alternative coffee networks (organic, fair trade, ecological, direct marketing, etc).
Based on these results, and our prior research experience, we are trying to focus our research and education in topics that directly relate to the concerns expressed above. Our current research themes are:
- Agroecological and ethnobotanical studies of native shade trees and marketable species to diversify coffee plantations and conserve native trees.
- In-depth studies of organizations and social networks, and their relationship to community and household livelihood and development goals.
- Inserting cooperatives into alternative markets (direct, organic, fair trade, etc.).
- Interdisciplinary landscape-scale analysis to better understand the social and environmental causes of past and current changes in livelihoods and natural resources over-time.
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