Youth Leadership and Education for Sustainable Agriculture

Supported by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Partner Organizations: Union of Cooperatives of San Ramón (UCA San Ramón), Nicaragua, and Vinculación y Desarrollo Agroecológico en Café (VIDA AC), México

The purpose of this initiative is derived from the need to establish year-round access to healthy food in rural communities, preserve and promote local sustainable food cultures, as well as stem the tide of youth outmigration from rural areas.

Youth Leadership and Community Agriculture Program

The long-term goal is to establish a youth leadership and community agriculture program to empower youth in rural communities in Latin America, strengthen local cultures of food production and consumption, and increase access to healthy and culturally appropriate food year-round. This initiative will ultimately impact eight (8) partner communities in total, focusing on youth (ages 17-25) with the intention of promoting sustainable food production practices at the family and community levels.

Building youth knowledge and skills in local sustainable food production will empower and strengthen youth pride in rural culture and agricultural livelihoods, and help reduce outmigration from these areas. Reduced outmigration will increase community access to sustainable means of food production and access to fresh and locally grown food throughout the year. Ultimately, this will reduce malnutrition and obesity often stemming from a dependence on packaged and processed foods during the period of scarcity between May to September, a time where farm families’ food security is reduced. 

This project will empower local youth leaders to develop school and community gardens as spaces of both education and community building to promote a healthy and sustainable food system.