Sustainable Organic Agriculture in Chiapas, Mexico

Promoting organic agriculture for indigenous communities in Chiapas, DESMI has 4 agro-ecology centers that teach hundreds of people each year. For example:

• Education trainers conduct veterinary workshops on backyard poultry:
  • Disease prevention in chickens, proper use and awareness of medications (i.e., commercial name, formula, dosage, expiration date)
  • The signs of fever and smallpox in chickens
  • The importance of vaccination
• Trainers hold workshops for on transgenic corn issues including:
  • Origins and marketing of transgenic corn
  • Conservation and importance of protecting local corn in indigenous culture
  • Adaptation of corn plagues
  • The role of corn in community food

Other workshops are held on water conservation and cachement, vermi-composting, and nutrition. DESMI also has programs that provide families with the tools and skills to grown back-yard gardens.

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The newest addition to DESMI’s projects is the Cold-Chain storage infrastructure implemented to store vaccines for the community. 18 women are now trained in the used of the animal vaccines and are able to visit surrounding areas to vaccinate farm animals.

Support from generous donations helps expand projects like this one and decreases the loss of animals due to disease. Thank you!