Global Partnerships in Action
Groundswell International advocates for action-oriented learning in collaboration with carefully chosen global partner organizations and allies. Through their work, we foster mutual learning, enhance methodologies and capabilities, make essential investments to foster continuous innovation, and promote agroecology globally.
Our approach to strengthening the capacity of people, communities, and farmers’ organizations to create healthy farming and food systems from the ground up would not be possible without the work of our global partners.
Global Partnerships in Action
In 2023, the below programs were impactful in bringing about positive change in their respective regions.
Nepal: Empowering Women
The Creative Women’s Group, backed by Groundswell International and its local partner organization, Sindhuli Integrated Development Services (SIDS Nepal), is the first savings and credit cooperative in the Sindhuli District, Nepal. Women gain access to high-yielding variety seeds and receive assistance in raising livestock, accessing seeds, preparing vermicomposting and biofertilizer, and technical training.
The Jaruwa Sustainable Farming Group is part of a network of 27 women’s savings, credit, and farming collectives in Kavrepalanchok District, Nepal, supported by Groundswell International and its local partner organization, BBP Pariwar. Women in these groups experience advantages through solidarity, collaborative efforts, and the financial support provided by savings and credit cooperatives. Additionally, Groundswell International and BBP Pariwar provide technical training in ecological farming, access to seeds and livestock, and exposure visits for women to learn from fellow farmers. Collaboratively, they strive towards the common objective of achieving sustained self-sufficiency and long-term resilience for these groups.
Haiti: Embracing Agroecology
Since 2009, Groundswell International has partnered with Partenariat pour le Développement Local (PDL) in Haiti to enhance farmers’ associations in the northern region of Haiti’s Central Plateau basin. The collaboration aims to rejuvenate farmland and uplift the lives of the local community. PDL has fortified 14 peasant organizations involving over 9,900 farmers who have embraced agroecological farming practices and are actively disseminating these methods through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. These organizations also oversee community savings and credit cooperatives, seed banks, grain reserves, and cooperative enterprises focused on value-added food processing and local marketing.
In a collaborative survey, Groundswell International found that implementing agroecological farming in the program area resulted in remarkable increases in productivity, doubling per-hectare profitability. When factoring in inputs and labor, agroecological farmers experienced an annual crop income of US $437 higher per hectare than average conventional farmers. Satellite data also validated higher land productivity, vegetative cover, and climate resilience in agroecological plots, even with lower rainfall. These practices contributed to improved water retention, increased carbon sequestration in the soil, reduced topsoil losses and mudslides, and enhanced food security.
Seven Countries: Influencing Social Change
In 2021, we initiated our inaugural Youth Storytellers Program in Burkina Faso and Honduras to empower youth to highlight the narratives within their communities and underscore the enhanced resilience achieved by local farmers through adopting agroecology.
Two years later, in 2023, the Youth Storytellers Program has grown to highlight work being done in seven countries: Burkina Faso, Honduras, Ecuador, Nepal, Haiti, Guatemala, and Senegal. This program empowers young individuals to become influential advocates for social change while also collecting vital data and stories from the field.
This initiative is a people-centered, agroecological counter-narrative for youth, enabling them to capture and convey rural smallholder farmers’ experiences and daily lives in their communities.
Continuing Action, Sustaining Growth
We are passionate about partnering with organizations that share our commitment to empowering women, enhancing local markets, advancing family nutrition, coordinating supportive governmental policies, and innovating and disseminating agroecological practices. On-the-ground achievements can only be expanded and sustained through these positive relationships.