Forgers of Hope
Making Food Sovereignty a Reality
By Javier Rivera, RCA Coordinator CRISPAZ

Early Thursday morning we went to Santa Marta de la Esperanza to familiarize ourselves with the work of the agricultural collective made up of men and women from this community.

This community was formed in 1982 by people displaced by the civil war. They originally came from Chalatenango, Usulutan, Cuscatlan and Morazan. They were directly supported by Father Fabian Amaya, who with the help of international solidarity was able to buy enough land to build houses and have a small scale agricultural production for the displaced.

Since the founding of this community, the people have worked in a collective spirit to maintain their small farm. In November 2006, this philosophy on life led them to set aside one acre of land for organic agriculture. They assigned the responsibility of maintaining this experiment to 15 men and women in hopes of providing enough food to feed their families.

Mercedes, one of the women in the collective told us, “The community spirit and brotherhood made it possible that three months after we started this project; we had enough food for our families and to sell at the Alternative Community Market.” She contiunes, “…at first the production was terrible. We didn’t have any money to buy seeds, we didn’t know how to grow or treat organic production. But we began to look for and read books on how to prepare fertilizer and how to select seeds. We taught ourselves! After that we were able to find organizations that provided us with technical support and organic seeds.”

In hope to continue growing and forging a community, Mercedes, Ana, Lidia, Dominga, Nery, Wendy, jenny, Alonso, Pedro, Miguel, Angel, Jorge, Enrgique, Eduardo and Elias sought support from the Salvadoran Ecological Unit (UNES). With UNES’s assistance the community was able to increase production. A year after they started this experiment they now grow cabbage, tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, loroco, yucca, bananas, guisquil, zucchini, carrots, beans and squash.

Doña Nery shared with us, “…this group comes together every Thursday to plant, work and cultivate the land. It really is a lot of work but we are enthusiastic. Every time we come there are always fruits or vegetables to bring home to our families.” The community takes their responsibility very seriously. They told us that everyday two people are assigned to water and look after the plants.

This community has accomplished much more than their original goal. They not only have enough food for those in their community, but have a surplus. The community from Santa Marta sells its excess along side 157 other producers from different parts of El Salvador in the Alternative Community Market that CRISPAZ along with the Citizens Network against Genetically Modified Organisms promotes every 15 days in San Salvador.

The Alternative Community Market

The Alternative Community Market is an organized expression of small farmers, producers of prepared foods, artisans, and natural medicine producers to promote the local economy by trading and selling organic and natural products made by them and their communities.

The Alternative Community Market develops, promotes and implements the principles of solidarity, sustainability and honesty as ethical and ecological values with which to construct equal and just relationships on a global level.

In addition, the market works to increase food sovereignty by promoting the exchange of native seeds as an alternative to buying GMO seeds or toxic fertilizers that are sold in El Salvador.

Food Sovereignty

El Salvador has lost its food sovereignty and security. As a result in the last few years we have seen a considerable increase in the price of the basic food basket. The announcement by Presidents Bush and Lula Da Silva to make Latin America the production zone for the next generation of bio fuels has caused the price of maize to increase, bringing with it the price of tortillas, chicken, and pork. According to the Ministry of Agriculture the price of a hundred pound sack of white corn has gone from $11.50 in January to $20.88 in July 2007; this is an increase of 81.6%. In some municipalities markets’ the price has increased by 122.5%.

El Salvador has converted into a country that imports fruits, vegetables and cereals. In the 1970’s the country was able to cover its internal demand for agricultural products. Today El Salvador imports 65% of its fruits and vegetables and 45% of its cereals.

In this context, the work of the women and men from Santa Marta de la Esperanza is necessary and dignified. We must accompany efforts like those of this community with spiritual, technical and financial support so that they are able to continue to be forgers of hope, and move others to food sovereignty.