Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil

The Rainforest was explored with non-sustainable production methods that led to severe soil, water and landscape degradation, causing rural poverty and migration to cities. This project promotes the donation of Irrigated Organic Vegetable Gardens for Brazilian rural families, poor farmers and Land Reform settlers, searching to establish then as organic farmers and agroforestry producers and to hold them living on their land, practicing self sustainable ecological techniques and interacting with nature. The donation of Irrigated Vegetable Gardens makes possible to irrigate land and so create "Small Family Oasis" where families or associated workers can live all year round, planting their food, producing goods for the organic market, with occupation for women and young, bringing them security, stability, better habitat and environmental conditions. With these advances, the income of this family will raise and other improvements will be made in water and house sanitation, all resulting in more health and an increased living situation. Each vegetable garden donated will be treated and cared as an Oasis, here people work every bit of land and water is utilized carefully, making the best use of soil and water. How it works? At first, a fast growing irrigated vegetable garden area is established for the production of food and goods for the market. With the water of this central water reservoir, that has fish and ducks, it is possible to have permanent crops of different vegetables with distinct production cycles. Small sized farm animals can be raised in this area. The irrigated plantation of numerous kinds of fruit, palms and useful trees, planted the Agroforestry way, is undertaken as soon as possible because of their longer cycle to start producing. These trees, that provide food, shade, organic matter and protect the soil from the strong tropical sun and the presence of water, form a protected shelter that attracts birds and other fauna. At this moment, we are finishing the implantation the first Irrigated Organic Vegetable Garden donated to a Land Reform settled family. We expect that at least three people can immediately work from this vegetable garden and we hope that in one or two years from now two families will feed and live from this garden. Please see Photo Gallery for all the steps of the construction. We are already looking for another person to receive a second donation. This project already starts with the support of the SALVEASERRA FUND created with part of GLOBALGIVING donations, with the purpose of donating irrigated vegetable gardens and tree nurseries for needed people and communities and also to offer training courses on environmental and agricultural matters. I am sure that a small investment in a model that preserves nature and water and that can be reproduced everywhere, may represent the beginning of economical, social and environmental changes in the perspective of living of many Third World citizens and countries.

Roberto Lamego, director.