To achieve greater food and economic security, more than 2,100 families in Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, and Belize have worked with SUSTAINABLE HARVEST INTERNATIONAL (SHI) to grow cacao (from which chocolate is made) or other primary cash crops in organic multi-story ‘forest gardens.’ The top story consists of hardwood trees, which provide shade for the lower level’s shade-loving crops, including cacao, coffee, ginger, and vanilla. Below the upper canopy, farmers plant vitamin-rich fruit trees and nitrogen-fixing leguminous trees that improve the soil.

The transition from destructive slash-and-burn cultivation to sustainable farming techniques (such as multi-story gardens) allows families to improve their health, restore our planet’s tropical forests, and preserve the wildlife habitat. Since the organization’s start in 1997, SHI has planted more than 2.7 million trees and converted over 14,000 acres to sustainable uses.

In rural Central America, the soil has been depleted by slash-and-burn agriculture.  As a result many farmers can no longer provide enough food to feed their families.