My name is Luis. I live in the east of Guatemala. I worked as a farmer, I cultivated corn and beans but also tilapia as a fish farmer. I was a supervisor in the development project. At that time I gave advice to viable projects in agriculture and livestock. In that process, I noticed some problems rural and urban families are facing. The basic needs of humankind are food and shelter.
In this region, in many Guatemalan households this is difficult to achieve. In the east of the country, many farmers don’t have their own farmland. Because of the short winters with little rain and long summers without rain, the time for food production is short and very risky. Many farmers cannot feed themselves throughout the year with what they produce.
They need more time and money, and their production volume is low. Many people seek for financial support in microfinance organizations. But they charge very high interests and instead of supporting the farmers, they cause debts. Some manufacturers in the region use too many chemicals. Many of them contain residues of leaves and fruits. By eating this food, health problems like allergies and kidney problems are caused.
We are bombarded by fast food and rubbish. The idea to feed us just to satisfy our hunger is changing. You can buy fast food easily, you don’t have to prepare it and it replaces healthy food. We need a good education in order to change this practice. That’s why I want people to go back to growing and using their own vegetables at home. It is not necessary to have a lot of land, with a little creativity and good will it’s possible by sowing the seeds and taking care of them so that they will keep for a long time.
If you have other ideas please feel free to share them with us.