Story

In indigenous communities of Solola, Guatemala 48% of children are malnourished. Their parents suffer related issues of high unemployment, lack of education and finance opportunities, and are unable to break the cycle of poverty. ATC works with small cooperatives in the department of Solola to link appropriate technologies with community groups to improve the quality of life. Solar Dehydrators sustainably produce dried herbs, fruits and vegetables to generate an income.

Impact

Cooperatives with a solar dehydrator will earn extra income for locally farmed products and enjoy the value added, requiring only a minimum of added human labour. Two current user-groups, a women's cooperative and an elders association are using funds they generate using their dehydrators to cover medical expenses and family nutrition. In the next year, 3 more solar dehydrators will generate a new income to over 30 cooperative farming families in Western Guatemala.

Challenge

High malnutrition rates, high unemployment, poor finance education, and competition with big business keeps small scale farmers in the Western highlands of Guatemala extremely poor. Selling agricultural products to middlemen, cash is only available at harvest time and for much of the year the family goes hungry. Over half of the children in Western Guatemala are malnourished. These factors create barriers to income generation and the cycle of poverty continues.

Organizer

Updates

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