http://www.mercycorps.org/ The Latest Mercy Corps Agriculture Content en-us (c) 2007 Mercy Corps http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:59:01 -0700 Charity Mercy Corps In-house CMS 60 http://www.mercycorps.org/ /images/donate/mercy_logo_red.gif http://www.mercycorps.org/ 136 48 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/lebanon/2289/ Sheikh Mahmoud Derbieh is one of several olive farmers receiving support from Mercy Corps to improve his oil and to start his own label — changes that have translated into higher sales. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:13:32 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hungernutrition/2156/ You can help address the current food crisis by encouraging Congress to pass legislation to aid vulnerable families. Mon, 12 May 2008 06:27:09 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/guatemala/2081/ For the mostly poor, indigenous families of Guatemala's central highlands, access to productive farmland is a first step out of poverty. Using that land to break into lucrative agricultural markets is a critical leap forward. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:57:08 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/women/2063/ Emergency response manager Richard Jacquot writes about what he's seeing on the ground in northeastern Congo— and what we're doing to help. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:43:47 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/china/2033/ The long road from impoverished village to chaotic city is fraught with difficulties for Chinese migrants. Mercy Corps helps them change challenges into opportunities. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:46:18 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/china/2035/ The 500 pounds of homemade noodles that Guo Guifen sells each market day keep local cook-pots full - and have won her family the village's top honor. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:39:08 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/china/2036/ The day a garden is established is one of happiness and hope for families - especially with the knowledge that they can remain at home and tend it through harvest. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:32:42 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/china/2037/ Zheng Hong, a former professor of micropaleontology, has moved out from behind the microscope to focus on one of China's biggest social issues: migrant youth. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:34:33 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/china/2039/ One day as Guo Peiling was rummaging around the neighborhood for his recycling business, he found a school for his youngest daughter. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:02:12 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/indonesia/1984/ The women of Mirik Lamreudup village are not only winning awards for their organic agriculture, but sharing their newfound success with other women in the area. Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:15:07 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/indonesia/1991/ With collaboration from communities, local organizations and government, Mercy Corps helped Aceh's tsunami survivors quickly move on with their lives. Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:20:53 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/guatemala/513/ Guatemala's long-running civil war, ethnic divides and economic woes are sparking fierce conflicts over land. Mercy Corps is working with farm families, landowners and officials to defuse the crisis. Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:58:12 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/agriculture/514/ Unfortunately, there are thousands of families with struggles similar to those Olivia's family once faced. Decades of civil war, an inequitable colonial legacy and economic downturns have driven rural Guatemalan families further into poverty. The 36-year-long war that ravaged Guatemala was largely fueled by widespread conflicts over land tenure and abuse by the ruling class and businesses. Indigenous peoples, many of them descendants of the Maya ethnic groups, were denied land ownership or forced from tribal lands. At one point, over 65% of Guatemala's arable land was controlled by just 2.5% of the country's population. In Guatemala's mountainous Alta Verapaz department, about 90% of the population is indigenous and over 85% are rural. More than half are illiterate and 63% live in poverty. These dire characteristics resulted in a wide number of families living and working on seasonal coffee farms with no real land or homes to call their own. They have been, in many ways, survivors of economic and land systems that conspired to keep them down. When the worldwide coffee crisis struck Guatemala - and all other coffee-producing countries around the world - beginning in 2000, rural families' meager livelihoods were destroyed almost overnight. The price of coffee on the world market fell by more than half, forcing coffee farms into bankruptcy and leaving indigenous families like Olivia's with no source of income - and no land. Disillusioned and hungry, poor families have turned to civil disobedience and protests to make their voices heard. Sometimes, these protests have escalated into violent confrontations and forcible occupations of farms, making an already combustible situation even more volatile. Mercy Corps is working with disgruntled families, landowners, local organizations and the Guatemalan government to help defuse this crisis. A cooperative, coordinated strategy between all stakeholders, involving extensive negotiation and mediation, is leading to peaceful resolution of conflicts and long-term solutions. Mercy Corps' land conflict resolution uses a two-part approach: directly mediating local land conflicts and then training local organizations to be able to resolve conflicts in the future. Currently, mediation activities take place at ten regional Mediation Centers, located throughout Alta Verapaz. These centers are managed by Mercy Corps' primary local partner, the Association of Lawyers for Legal Development (JADE). The mediation process is, for the most part, driven by the families themselves. Mercy Corps encourages local people to find solutions that best benefit their communities. One of the main aims of the land conflict project is to put families in touch with resources, including local organizations, that will help them achieve peaceful resolution of their grievances. There's still a lot of work to be done - but Mercy Corps and its local partners are proving that positive, peaceful change can happen at a grassroots level. Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:22:18 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/microenterprise/1758/ This nine-minute documentary shows every step of the Apple Project, Mercy Corps' program to help farmers grow better varieties of apples and to increase their financial independence in one of Central Asia's poorest countries. Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:26:48 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/northkorea/1773/ In May 2007 Esme Culver visited North Korea at the request of that country's officials. While there, she gained rare and thoughtful insight. Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:11:10 -0700 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/economicdevelopment/1615/ Offering credit to female farmers is reducing the potential for violent conflict in war-weary eastern Tajikistan. Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:25:30 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/colombia/1604/ "Desplazados" like Marleny Yara are regaining a sense of pride by doing what they know best: cultivating the soil. Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:57:33 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/agriculture/1479/ AARP Program example Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:27:55 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/environment/1570/ Mercy Corps is focusing on the rehabilitation of mangrove and coastal forests in tsunami-affected areas. Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:23:25 -0800 http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/microenterprise/1508/ Mercy Corps and its microfinance institution, Kompanion, are helping household apple farmers in two Kyrgyz villages. Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:35:45 -0700