[Sdpg] Sexto Sol Center’s Sustainable Food Production Program Chiapas Mexico NEDS PC Teachers

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

http://www.sextosol.org/rancho_terra_linda.shtml

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
We seek permaculture teachers with international experience interested in 
providing technical support to people enrolled in the Sexto Sol Center’s 
Permaculture projects. People with knowledge in Organic and Biointensive 
Methods are welcome. Volunteers who can help maintain the vegetable 
production and plant tree seedlings are also welcome. People with knowledge 
about alternative energy are invited to come establish an appropriate 
system. Contact tamara at sextosol.org

SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION PROGRAM
Promoting permaculture as an answer to malnutrition and an alternative to 
chemical based farming

The Sexto Sol Center’s Sustainable Food Production Program aims to reduce 
malnutrition and eliminate the use of agro-chemicals through education that 
teaches people how to grow their own food organically. The Sexto Sol Center 
promotes an alternative model of farming that combines biointensive, 
organic farming methods with the principles of permaculture. This model of 
sustainable food production offers great promise for improving production, 
restoring environmental integrity, improving nutrition and enhancing 
farmers’ ability to earn a dignified living.

In this introductory section we provide context on the challenge of world 
hunger and describe the problems associated with the way people farm in the 
Sierra Madre. A description follows of Sexto Sol educational program at the 
Escuela de Agroecologia y Permacultura Tierra Linda in Motozintla and our 
work to establish permaculture garden projects at schools serving 
indigenous communities.

Food Security is the measure of how stable the sources of food are for a 
particular region. Ideally, local farmers and home gardeners produce enough 
nutritious food to provide an adequate diet for the people living there.

Hunger in a world of plenty is the result of an ethical “starvation” at the 
core of human affairs.

According to the United Nations, 800 million people live in hunger. This 
astounding crisis is the result of mismanagement of natural resources and a 
distribution policy within and between nations that leaves people in the 
countryside in severe poverty. In India an average of six hundred farmers a 
year commit suicide because of the despair of not being able to pay their 
debts. This is not simply an unfortunate reality. It should be seen as 
compelling evidence of the failure of human society.



The Earth can produce what we need to live well. Hunger is caused by our 
institutions, our trading system and our sense of separation from fellow 
human beings. The good news is that given the fact that hunger is a human 
caused phenomenon, we therefore have the ability to eliminate it. We invite 
you to consider your participation in the existence of hunger. We hope you 
will then work toward building the necessary political consensus that will 
lead to the changes that are required.

A person comes into this world to learn and to reach their potential as a 
human being. Among all of the people co-inhabiting the planet with us right 
now, 800 million are suffering from lack of food. Consider this, that the 
challenge of hunger is not only about the needs of the hungry but also 
about the need of those of us with our bellies full to reach our own 
potential as human beings by acting proactively on behalf of others.
The Problems with Agro-Chemicals: poor yields, health risks, water 
contamination
Farming is the main activity in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, which is 
considered to be one of the most impoverished regions of Mexico. The 
ancient, sustainable ways of producing food still practiced by the Lacandon 
Maya have long been replaced here by farming methods that cause 
environmental destruction and perpetuate poverty.

Small scale campesino farmers lack access to the resources and information 
that would enable them to have better success with the cash crops they 
grow. They typically rely heavily on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and 
herbicides to remedy problems in their fields. Substances banned in the 
U.S. are available here or brought in from nearby Guatemala. Spraying with 
paraquat one of the infamous "dirty dozen", has replaced the traditional 
practice of using a hoe. The chemical is highly toxic to birds and is a 
serious health risk to farmers. It adheres to soil and when the fields are 
burned, can produce a very toxic smoke for up to thirteen years after it is 
applied.

Technical “advice” for farmers from government development agencies usually 
promotes chemical remedies. Farmers are generally unaware of the dangers of 
using these chemicals and do not use any protective clothing when spraying. 
Typically the fumigating pump and the chemicals are kept along with the 
other tools in the living areas of their houses. It is common to hear of 
poisonings from the mishandling of these toxic substances.

With thousands of farmers fumigating their crops throughout this 
mountainous region, these poisons wash into the drainage affecting fish 
populations and seriously contaminating the water supply for the City of 
Motozintla and the many communities downstream. Most people simply boil 
this water for drinking and cooking, killing bacteria but concentrating the 
soluble chemicals. The foods farmers supply to the population of the region 
have chemical residues.
“If you farm only corn, you will harvest only poverty”

Most farming families raise one crop a year of corn and some beans on steep 
un-terraced slopes. Their land lies fallow during the 6 months of the dry 
season. Soils are generally exhausted from over dependence on chemical 
fertilizers. In the spring after months of rainless weather, farmers burn 
the corn stalks to prepare for planting. This practice destroys organic 
matter further degrading soil quality. Poor soils yield sickly plants that 
are more susceptible to pest infestation. The farmers use chemicals to 
combat these pests. It is a vicious cycle.

In 1998, the practice of burning the fields in the dry season quickly 
sparked fires in the hot, dry hillsides. Large-scale fires damaged 
remaining stands of old-growth cloud forest as they burned uncontrolled for 
weeks. Yet each spring the burning begins again. The forests continue to 
disappear under the machete as people look for new areas to farm. With less 
forest cover, underground water levels have decreased. Springs that were 
once reliable no longer provide enough water.

Rural people use their land this way because they do not know of other 
alternatives. They live in poverty without knowing how to reach a better 
quality of life.
Creating food security one household at a time for a better future for the 
children

La Escuela de Agro-Ecología “Tierra Linda” is located on a ridge about a 15 
minute walk from the center of Motozintla with a sweeping view of the river 
basin below and the dramatic rise of the Sierra Madre on all sides. Founded 
in 1999, at Escuela Tierra Linda we have provided training free of charge 
to over 800 small-scale peasant farmers, students, health promoters, and 
community members. We invite government agencies to the School to suggest 
that development programs should encourage food self-sufficiency on a 
household level and that it is possible to achieve without the use of toxic 
chemicals. Governor Salazar recently announced the new policy of promoting 
this model of as the answer to poverty. The Sexto Sol Center has been doing 
so since 1997.



The farm is a north-facing slope on a severely eroded ridge and is typical 
of many deforested areas in the Sierra Madre. This unlikely spot has proven 
to be an excellent site for demonstrating how to return fertility to 
damaged land. Using organic soil building methods we have been able to 
transform this previously unproductive site into an attractive homestead 
where the productivity actually increases over time, much to the surprise 
of local people who remember what it was like only a few years ago.



We show visitors how to build small dams called swales to catch water at 
our Parque Ecologico where we have been regenerating a deforested hillside. 
They can see native orchids and other forest plants in the small botanical 
garden kept humid with filtered gray water and shaded by an arbor of 
prolific edible chayote plants.

Land of this size, 1½ hectares, is usually planted only with corn. By 
contrast the School demonstrates how a small parcel can be made much more 
productive by growing fruit and nut trees, fish, poultry, vegetables and 
medicinal plants. The “huerto familiar” or family vegetable garden shows 
that by managing well a small area, a family can produce a significant 
amount of nutritious organic produce.



Escuela Tierra Linda fills the need for a facility that serves as a “living 
classroom” to give people hands-on training. Farmers can observe our 
vegetable and fruit production and see how compost is made. They can come 
repeatedly to see how the methods function over time, how we resolved pest 
problems and to receive help with problems they encounter with their own 
crops. The program has been made possible by the generous support of the 
Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust. Other major contributors have been 
Patagonia and the Rosenlund Family.


Permaculture, Biointensive and Organic Farming
The Sexto Sol Center actively promotes permaculture as a way to bring 
creativity and common sense to bear on how to use limited resources and 
solve site-specific problems caused by wind, poor soil, slope, and drought. 
We show people how they can produce an abundance of foods while at the same 
time creating a system where wastes are recycled, water is used wisely and 
energy consumption is reduced. In practice, permaculture creates a stable 
system that mimics nature and is therefore sustainable.



At Escuela Tierra Linda we also teach biointensive, organic methods that 
rely on continually replenishing of the soil with compost, green manure, 
and other natural means. Properly practiced, the yields are higher than 
average and water consumption is less. This method is recognized as a 
promising alternative to chemical-based agriculture for small-scale 
vegetable and grain production in developing countries.

While people usually expect to be taught how to do these things, we are 
commited to providing them with enough information so that they can 
understand the natural processes involved. We believe that this level of 
horticultural education in the necessary to empower farmers and food 
gardeners to make good choices for managing their crops. It also is a 
delightful way to help people open up to the wonders of the natural world 
and to contribute to creating an ethic of stewardship.

Once coffee-growing families establish their own permaculture system they 
will be freed from worry about basic survival and improve the quality of 
their lives.

We provide services to these institutions at Tierra Linda:
Centro de Recuperacion Nutricional – Mothers of malnourished children - 
workshops on child development, women’s self esteem, gender issues in 
child-rearing, and how to grow vegetables.

Instituto Mexicano de Seguidad Social–training in how to make family 
gardens to 180 health promoters for 350 communities, created demonstration 
garden at the hospital with high school students.

UNICACH – Scientific University of Chiapas, Agroecology majors - to invite 
students to be part of the solution in their future careers.

Public School & pre-schools - environmental education for all ages.

CEBETIS, Trained the faculty of the Technical high school in how to 
incorporate environmental themes in the curriculum.


Demonstration gardens for remote mountain schools: Empowering families to 
eliminate malnutrition
Two major challenges prevent children from impoverished indigenous 
communities from developing both physically and intellectually - chronic 
malnutrition and the lack of schools. Most children in the Sierra Madre 
suffer severe malnutrition. This intolerable public health situation does 
not bode well for the future of the region. In addition, these communities 
have only primary schools that are typically under-funded, teachers are 
frequently absent and the overall quality of education is very poor. It is 
not uncommon for some children to walk as much as 2 hours each way to get 
to school.

Albergue Providencia: provides housing in Motozintla for 45 girls from 
communities without schools. Parents can not pay all that is needed to feed 
the girls so we are designing a system of planters to provide growing space 
on the large cement patio. With funds provided by the Sierra Club, Beyond 
the Borders Mexico Projects we built two large planters on the cement 
patio, where snowpeas, garlic, lettuce, herbs, squash and more are already 
poking through the soil. In 2003, we provided a workshop on permaculture to 
the parents of these girls.

Escuela Secundaria Tecnica #122 Bajucu serves children from 10 
Tojolobal-speaking indigenous communities located near Las Margaritas in 
Chiapas. Escuela #122 has a very large area that is not under any 
production. Sexto Sol is working with students and teachers to establish a 
food production system using the principles of Permaculture. Part of the 
project will be to improve the inadequate dormitories and to make the 
school more attractive with edible landscaping. We are seeking funds to 
build a greenhouse to extend the growing season. Currently the local diet 
does not include vegetables resulting in malnutrition. The school will 
become a source of vegetables for the local community.

In September, 2003 we launched the project to create a permaculture system 
to produce food for the boarders and to serve as the demonstration of 
sustainable food production. We showed a video of permaculture projects 
from around the world to 200 parents with enthusiastic reception. 
Volunteers will be placed at the school to incorporate students in the 
project.

PHOTOS TO APPEAR HERE SOON

Maximizing benefits: In general Sexto Sol projects aim to maximize 
beneficial outcomes by working on several levels at once. In the case of 
the Escuela #122, the immediate benefits will be an improvement in the 
living conditions and diet of the children and the creation of a source of 
much needed income for the school that is insecure about its future as the 
Director retires. Our involvement will enhance the curriculum and provide 
support the young, committed teachers who have worked with inadequate 
resources. But the most lasting benefit will be that the school will serve 
as a powerful demonstration of how to become food self-sufficient on a 
household basis for the 267 families whose children attend the school.

We have a goal to raise $8,000 for the first phase of this project.

The second phase will be the important work of addressing the serious 
impact of a recent clear cut of the nearby pine forest by a foreign logging 
company. In the year since the logging, the river has dried up and the 
aquifer is seriously depleted. We plan to establish a large-scale pine 
nursery and involve the children in planting the trees. In this way, we 
will create a generation that will never allow the forest to be cut again.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
We seek permaculture teachers with international experience interested in 
providing technical support to people enrolled in the Sexto Sol Center’s 
Permaculture projects. People with knowledge in Organic and Biointensive 
Methods are welcome. Volunteers who can help maintain the vegetable 
production and plant tree seedlings are also welcome. People with knowledge 
about alternative energy are invited to come establish an appropriate system.



For more information, contact the Field Office
tamara at sextosol.org

Field Office:
Apartado Postal 64, Motozintla, Chiapas, CP 30900, Mexico
Phone: +52 (962) 707-4744 	

US Office:
3514 E. Contessa, Mesa, Arizona, 85213-7036
Phone: +1 (480) 854-7583