Groundswell International - investing in the strength and promise of rural communities

Groundswell International contributes to the global movement to overcome poverty, inequality and ecological destruction by supporting community-based organizations to work together to improve well being, spread lasting solutions and engage in wider coalitions for change.

In the past year Groundswell launched program partnerships in Haiti, Ecuador, Burkina Faso and Mali.

In Haiti, Groundswell and its local partner organization, Partnership for Local Development, are working for the sustainable rural development of 242 communities in the most marginalized and ecologically fragile areas of the country. Our program is increasing agricultural production and improving food security, promoting community health committees and practices, and strengthening community activities to protect and manage natural resources.

In Ecuador, Groundswell is supporting the local NGO EkoRural in its efforts to help some 10,000 farmers in Ecuador's northern and central highlands to strengthen market linkages between them and their urban consumers; to improve local seed production; to support farmer innovation to improve water harvesting, management and irrigation to increase production in the face of changes in the local climate; and to improve community and reproductive health through education and training.

In Burkina Faso, Groundswell is developing a three-year program that focuses on assisting local community-based organizations and NGOs in expanding effective agroecological approaches to new villages while improving the effectiveness of existing program work; documenting the context, process, and outcomes of "good practices" for agroecological production; and creating a network among community-based organizations, local NGOs, and other development actors to share lessons and improve each other's practices.

In Mali, Groundswell is working in partnership and with financial support from Oxfam America. The program is being led by our long-time colleague Roland Bunch, a respected global expert on sustainable agriculture. Over the next three years we will work with 26,000 women in 200 villages to sustainably improve their agricultural production by introducing simple technologies to improve soil fertility, seed quality (short cycle seeds), and water management.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Groundswell
• local food system
• sustainable agriculture
• people centered development
• endogenous development
• sustainable development
• rural development
• Haiti recovery
• Burkina Faso
• Ecuador
• Haiti
• Mali
• Ghana