Communities managing biodiversity
Smallholder farming and the transition to agroecology
Tea to help fight poverty in Laos
Tea plants (camelia sinensis) are endemic to the forests in the mountains of northern Laos, remote areas where many ethnic minorities live: thousand-year-old wild tea plants, wild tea plants on slash-and-burn plots and plantations. The region accounts for roughly 95% of tea production in Laos. Tea has big potential for local economic growth, as Lao tea […]
Animal health and public health in Cambodia
Farmers in Cambodia face two major challenges: animal health (few veterinarians, high rate of disease and death) and human health (use of toxic chemical inputs, threat to food security, etc.). AVSF’s One Health project aims to provide better local services to vulnerable farmers by focusing on both animal and human health. AVSF has helped train […]
Organic and fair-trade cocoa in Togo
Nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa is grown around the Gulf of Guinea, where cocoa is one of the major cash crops and constitutes a source of income for the countries and smallholder families that produce it. However, the cocoa sector is controlled for the most part by bean-exporting companies and is regulated at the […]
Pastoralism and combatting desertification in northern Senegal
Matam and Louga are regions in the heart of the sylvo-pastoral zone of northwestern Senegal. In partnership with AVSF, the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, these regions designed this project to regulate access to pastoral resources in a way that is fairer and more sustainable. Despite its potential, livestock […]
High-quality fair-trade cocoa in North Haiti
There are no hybrid cocoa trees in Haiti. The trees grown there are all older varieties (such as criollo and trinitario), typical to the Caribbean. These older bean varieties are known for their slender shape and powerful aroma and are mainly used in the production of high-end chocolates. Criollo accounts for only 5% of the […]
Potatoes and fair trade in Peru
Smallholders in the Huancavelica department, in Peru’s Central Sierra region, live at high altitudes (between 3,400 and 3,900 meters) with extreme climate conditions. After the violence instigated by the Shining Path group in the ’80s and ’90s, the region is now slowly rebuilding its social fabric. Huancavelica is the poorest department in the country, with […]
