Before I found out about Plant With Purpose we had so many financial uncertainties. We didn’t have the habit of savings. We didn’t have trust as a community because we’ve all had the experience of being deceived in past occasions.

I was very worried. I didn’t have a strategy when it came to my farm work and because of this my production was very low. I didn’t have the resources to invest in my land. I was in the practice of burning my plot and this was causing a lot of damage to the environment and the soil. I had no idea that I was being destructive to the earth through this practice, I just felt very desperate because I was producing the bare minimum to keep my family sustained.

“Before I connected with Plant With Purpose, my community and my personal life went through one crisis after another. My farm was in a poor state after two years of drought. That put my family into a financial crisis that we simply couldn’t escape.”

“I survived by planting short-cycle products and burning the forest in order to do so. The farm became deforested, and there was no longer any shade.”

Pablo’s community began to hear about other Purpose Groups in the area and what they were doing. Together with his friends and neighbors, he decided to join a Purpose Group. “We believed in the ideas Plant With Purpose was promoting. We were inspired. We came together as a group and we started working towards our community’s progress.”

“Cocoa is the best agriculture project that I’ve started on my lot. It used to look empty. Desolate. Now it’s protected by trees that hold the soil, bear fruit, and create economic support to help sustain my family. They protect the future of my children.”

“After coming together, we quickly started to accomplish many goals we couldn’t before because we lacked the education and knowledge to make it happen. For example, we used to use chemicals on our farms, we burned down forests, and we weren’t planting appropriate crops. Now we know that those chemicals were very harmful to our health and the environment, and that burning was removing nutrients from our soil.

Plant With Purpose has educated us with preparing organic fertilizers for our crops. Crop diversification is one of the most important techniques that we’ve learned to implement across our plots. I have gotten results that have far exceeded my expectations, and I see greater and healthier plant and produce growth across the ecosystem. The farmers who are part of our Purpose Group have gotten workshops on grafting, fertilizer, and making cleaning products. Plant With Purpose also supports us with plants like cocoa, sapodilla, and lemon.”