World Development & Relief Committee

WDRF (World Development and Relief Fund) is the relief and development body of the Methodist Church in Ireland. MRDF (Methodist Relief and Development Fund) is WDRF's equivalent within the Methodist Church in Britain. In partnership they have co-funded this project since 2005.

El Salvador

IPES (Permaculture Institute of El Salvador)

Funding for 2008: £15,000 (€22,500) from WDRF

Background

	Temporary home built 13 years ago following the war and still in use.

Together with Haiti, El Salvador has the worst environmental destruction in the American continent. It has already lost 95% of its natural forest and loses 20% of its top soil to erosion each year. Farmland is only half as productive as 30 years ago. Soil has been acidified by over use of inorganic fertilisers, pesticides, acid rain and other pollution. Most of the rural population has limited freshwater supply, no refuse collection, no medical facilities, no employment and are unable to make a living from farming due to cheap imported food from other countries. The traditional self-sufficient life is fast disappearing. The civil war has resulted in massive displacement and refugees have returned to isolated areas lacking in basic amenities.

IPES

	IPES is a grass roots organisation whose members are small scale farmers and use the 'farmer to farmer' approach to teach methods of ecological agriculture and sustainable living. The overall aim of the project is to improve the living conditions of small farmers and their families in poor rural communities.
Seeds are shared between community groups at the end of the gathering

The programme:

A 3 stage programme over 3 years has been developed. It incorporates:

• Promotion of environmental protection and improvement
  
• Improvement of family diet
  
• Reduction of dependency on costly agro chemicals and improvement of self sufficiency in food production
  
• Improvement of soil fertility and productivity
  
• Formation of community leadership to facilitate development
  
• Strengthening women's organisation and leadership within the community
  
• Empowering communities to identify problems, find solutions and seek resources from local agencies and NGOs (non governmental organisations)
  
• Develop co-operation between IPES and local organisations to share experience and knowledge
• These communities have also recently been affected by Hurricane Stan and so there is much need for this project, in order to replenish what has been destroyed.

Some costings:

Seeds, plants, tools and materials - £1,143 (€1829) per annum
Fulltime promoter - £2,740 (€4384) per annum
Women's training - £2,627 (€4203) per annum

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