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Bridging the Financial Gap: Transforming Smallholder Farming Through Access to Finance
In Nigeria, Daniel Ushie, a 61-year-old oil palm farmer, has experienced firsthand the challenges of providing for his family. With support from the Village Savings and Loans Association programme, he has successfully invested in small cassava and palm oil processing mills.
01 May 2024
About face in the Amazon: Rotational grazing helps families find a way to farm better
Ranchers in Brazil are changing how they farm and improving their income while reducing their impact on the environment in the process. Extension officers from Amazonia Connect are helping ranchers, like Alaion Costa and Cleuto Prates, make the move to rotational grazing on their farms in the State of Pará.
18 April 2024
TEH nDESO CONNECTS: Finding New Opportunities with Indonesia’s Small-scale Tea Growers
Indonesia's small-scale tea farmers face ongoing challenges due to climate change and competition. Fortunately, a recent initiative, Teh nDeso, is promoting sustainable practices and has helped small farmers to connect directly with consumers. The results have been impressive. With creative branding, QR codes with informative videos, and partnerships with local tea stalls and cafes, sales have risen from 5-10 tonnes…
16 April 2024
A Kenyan coffee grower enhances the sustainability and resilience of his farm
Like many, Richard Rono is seeing the real time impacts of climate change. Unpredictable rainfall has resulted in lower coffee yields for this Kenyan coffee farmer, but Solidaridad’s TRACE Kenya project is helping him build up his resilience. Organic farming practices have boosted his harvest and now Richard is sharing what he’s learned with others in his community as a…
09 April 2024
Grit and guts: Karuna Daimari writes her own success story in tea
What is the role of women in the Indian tea industry? As an answer, Karuna Daimari in Assam has spent her lifetime challenging stereotypes with her work as a tea farmer and an entrepreneur. Her journey highlights the importance of training and support for small growers, while she continues to inspire other women to work for success in business.
28 March 2024
In Indonesia, indigenous Dayaks reclaim their right to food and forests
In Indonesia, the Dayak people are using agroforestry to preserve ecosystems and maintain biodiversity. Their efforts in Ensaid Panjang village have led to increased incomes and a renewed appreciation for the value of sustainable forests. The development of hand-woven art and plans for ecotourism within the Tawang Serimbak forest have brought new opportunities to the Dayak community.
26 March 2024
Jony Rodriguez: a miner, an entreprenuer
Surrounded by arid, mountain landscapes in Peru, Jony Rodriguez has used a unique financial product targeting small-scale miners to double production at his small-scale mine. Plus, with the new credit he has modernized his equipment and improved worker safety. With his business on the rise and a growing reputation as an entrepreneur, Jony confidently aims to make further improvements, while…
20 March 2024
African cooperative thrives as a citrus producer
A South African citrus cooperative has defied the odds to grow from supplying local markets to exporting lemons, mandarins, and oranges around the world. Their success lies in a commitment to quality, investment in training, and an embrace of new technology. The cooperative is a powerful example of how innovation can transform the agricultural sector.
12 March 2024
Lifting up vulnerable youth in South Africa
In the heart of South Africa, Saulsville is a remarkable school that provides comfort, education, and compassionate care to some of the world’s most vulnerable children and young people. With a number of their residents engaged in farming activities, Saulsville reached out to the Social Employment Fund project to offer even more resources to nourish and nurture hundreds of children…
19 January 2024
Breaking barriers: How Elvis became a thriving entrepreneur in Ghana’s cocoa value chain
After years away from his home village in Ghana, Elvis Adu Boahen returned as a young entrepreneur and created a successful and sustainable business that serves the cocoa value chain.
09 January 2024
A VISIT TO BANGLADESH: WATER ACCESS TRANSFORMS VILLAGE LIFE & AGRICULTURE
Innovative approaches to water and land-use are changing agriculture in Bangladesh. Young farmers, like Tania and Rubel, have seen a profound effect.
04 January 2024
A Love that unites Forests and Cocoa in Brazil
A mother of 11, a grandmother of 24, a great-grandmother of 2: Angelita Ferreira is a force of nature who dreams of producing the high-profile cocoa that some farmers in the region have become known for.
21 December 2023
A woman’s resilience bears fruit
Sandra Zanardi never saw herself as an orange farmer, but after the death of her husband, she took the reins of her family’s orange grove in Brazil. Now, with support from Solidaridad’s Fruto Resiliente project, Sandra has improved her farm’s performance and is set to reap a plentiful harvest. In the process, she has created a vibrant new future for…
07 December 2023
From Field to Facials: Work with Solidaridad Spurs a Spa Dream
The struggle to find work in South Africa is real. Since 2000, the unemployment rate has held steady at over 20 percent; in 2023 the country maintained the highest unemployment rate in the world. New programmes from Solidaridad are bringing practical training, jobs, and hope to women and men who are ready to work for their future.
29 November 2023
Redefining cocoa farming, improving livelihoods through crop diversification in Ghana
Crop diversification through Solidaridad's Cocoa Life programme is helping Ghanaian cocoa farmers, like Kwaku Atta, improve incomes and local livelihoods. His community has embraced crops, like the humble sweet potato, sparking a growing interest in the practical benefits of innovative agricultural solutions that meet real-world needs. The programme has also created new opportunities for women while providing new resources for…
20 November 2023
SOLIDARIDAD AND EMFED: A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FOR WASTE-TO-COMPOST CIRCULARITY
Kwabena Mends, a young entrepreneur and founder of EMFED Farms in Assin Fosu in central Ghana, has launched an innovative programme that promises to transform agricultural practices, reduce greenhouse emissions, while also providing an important new source of income to neighboring farmers.
02 November 2023
Promoting Entrepreneurs in Agriculture One Farmer at a Time
Patrick Newman Kortey has become a household name in the local Boase Sibi community in Ghana. As an entrepreneur and inspirational leader to other small-scale farmers, he has worked with Solidaridad to build a variety of businesses that supplement his income from cocoa while he establishes a strong foundation for future success.
30 October 2023
Rural Woman Coffee Farmer Leads the Way in Tanzania
For many rural women, building a successful business can be a struggle due to limited access to resources. Suzan Malya, a coffee farmer in Tanzania, overcame challenges to turn her farm into a dynamic small business that provides a vibrant future for her family. Now she serves as an example to others in her community.
13 October 2023
Banding together to conserve & restore mangrove habitat
After a fire destroyed a large part of an important mangrove forest on Guatemala’s Pacific coast, national and international institutions joined the local ‘31 de Julio’ community to restore and conserve the vital ecosystem.
02 October 2023
Crafting the world’s finest cocoa in Brazil
João Rios and his wife Nayara represent an entire community of cocoa farmers who bet on technical assistance and rural extension to achieve premium quality cacao. As a result, the Tuerê terroir in Brazil has received almost 30 awards since 2016. This is the story of how knowledge and information transform lives.
28 September 2023
Brazil’s Carminha Missio Leads on the Farm and on the Environment
For decades Carminha Missio has worked to encourage sustainable soil conservation practices in Brazil’s Western Bahia. Driven by her interest in environmental protection, Carminha took an active part in the development of Solidaridad’s first carbon calculator for soy cultivation.
20 September 2023
A Bright Future for a Woman Farming Coffee in Tanzania
Dorothy Masaki is a 54 year-old wife and mother of six who began farming over 35 years ago on her father’s farm. After years of hard work Dorothy joined Solidaridad’s Practice for Change: Coffee Resilience Programme in East Africa, and the success of her coffee farm is leading to new opportunities for herself, her family and her friends.
07 September 2023
Young farmers in Kenya making a business case for coffee
Sustainable coffee can be a lifeline for young women and men throughout Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. To jump-start economic growth and increase coffee production, Solidaridad is working in Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda to help women and young farmers succeed in business and on the farm.
31 August 2023
NURTURING RESILIENCE ONE BEE AT A TIME
Aurora Zeas in an entrepreneur in Nicaragua and owner of Zeas Apícolas, a honey producer that provides a wide range of honey-based products. Her spirit and passion for pollinators has led her to grow a successful business through thick and thin.
16 August 2023
Taking over the family farm
When Jacob Overt took over the family farm, he didn't realize that sustainable production of oil palm could support his entire family. Training in climate-smart practices have helped him improve productivity, income and protect the local environment.
14 August 2023
Digital Innovation Connects Women Dairy Farmers to Markets in Bangladesh
Though women have always worked in agriculture – even outnumbering men in Bangladesh and India – their inclusion in the formal supply chain remains low. In Bangladesh, women are involved in many of the activities on dairy farms, yet their work often goes unrecognized. A new programme is changing that.
Meet Sona Bai
Sona is one of the 6,500 active farmers in her district who are part of the Smart Agri Project, a CSR initiative of Vodafone Idea and Indus Towers, implemented by Solidaridad. Agar Malwa is among the districts where the first phase of the project kicked off in January 2020.
31 July 2023
Meet Jeremías: A coffee farmer adapting his farm to conserve and provide
Don Jeremías Gomez Repero was raised on a small family farm in the department of Caquetá, Colombia. Today, Jeremías and his own family are learning how to better farming practices can reduce emissions, protect biodiversity and provide for their needs at the same time.
20 June 2023
