In Guatemala, rural farmers across the country must carefully manage three main agricultural elements: water, sunlight and soil.
Balancing these three elements is the key to cultivating a healthy and productive farm. For many Guatemalan farmers, the tricky element is water. Too much water during the rainy season floods the land, and too little causes drought conditions that dries up the plants.
This was the case for Zoila Tiul Caal and her husband, Francisco Tzi Reyes, before they joined Heifer's Green Business Belt project. They live on a remote farm in Guatemala with their family growing spices, like cinnamon and allspice. Francisco used to spend hours each day trying to find water for the farm and his family.
"Before we had to travel six miles to store water in barrels and jars for home use," he recalls.
This family completely changed the quality of their lives through the sustainable practices they learned thanks to your generous gift.
Before joining the Heifer project, their spices would sell for 16 to 19 cents a pound. That means even an abundant harvest of 2,000 pounds would leave the couple with just $380.
Your gift gave Zoila and Francisco immediate access to water, which transformed the quality and quantity of the spices grown on their farm.
Between the water, training and sustainable farming practices, their allspice now sells for as much as 77 cents a pound!
In 2022, the couple earned more than $3,300 during harvest season — increasing their income by almost four times! The best part? Zoila and Francisco earn more without having to increase their production.
“No organization has come like Heifer. They train us and value our participation,” Zoila says.
Thousands of farmers like Zoila and Francisco lead healthier and more productive lives because of your life-changing support through the Friends of Heifer® program. Just one gift from supporters like you sets in motion vital changes that have lifechanging impacts — families have access to better financing for farming equipment and earn more income to pay for things like school fees and nutritious food, improving the quality of their lives for generations to come.
And thanks to the sustainable practices they’re taught, farmers are directly working to restore balance to the earth.
Farmers around the world can feed their families, run their farms, and earn a steady income all thanks to your support as a Friend of Heifer. Your gifts do more than provide training and livestock to families in need. A gift to Heifer means giving a family the tools needed to stop the cycle of hunger and poverty in their family once and for all.
