I am excited that we are one year closer to achieving our goal of helping 4 million families secure living incomes by 2020. The success of our work depends heavily on developing local economies that benefit, rather than exploit, small-scale farmers, as well as strengthening the communities of farmers. We do this by giving farmers the capacity to drive and start agriculture-based business activities and participate in the market economy.
As you can see in the graphic to the right, there are four primary components to our development model. Strong communities are more willing and able to bring their resources and ideas together, decide on what needs they wish to prioritize, and carry out the plans they make successfully. When community members feel connected to each other, and when they are all moving toward the goal of improving their lives, they are better able to manage any setbacks and capitalize on new opportunities. Passing on the Gift® has been at the core of our model since Dan West first put his ideas into practice. And conserving natural resources provide the farmers of today with the assurance their hard work will continue to benefit their communities for generations to come.
It's because of this deep community development work we do that our efforts not only succeed, but last beyond the life of our projects. Farmers like Edwin Paz Vasquez and Diana Cordero in Bolivia and Pedro Cconcha in Peru have internalized the components of our model so sincerely that we are confident the foundation we have laid in their communities will remain strong for generations to come.
