3) Description of your products or services: The Garifuna Emergency Committee of Honduras responded to Hurricane Mitch’s devastation by partnering with 16 communities to acquire land for rebuilding; build & repair homes, community centers, schools & businesses; equip schools & health centers; & work for 7 years to restore livelihoods & food security. We have pioneered the recovery of agriculture & fishing—traditional life among the Garifuna -spearheading a recovery of traditional root crops, medicinal & artisanal plants as well as reforestation with wild fruits, grafted fruits, hard wood trees & coconuts. We have provided seeds, seedlings, cuttings & rizomes, & training on improving production, organic composting, pesticides & fertilizer, etc.

Fostering Garifuna resilience to the constant threat of storms, flooding, drought & hurricanes—we have achieved food security & sustainable livelihoods & restored our culture.We have supported women & youth in forming collectives to increase production – without harmful chemicals & assisted them in marketing new surplus crops, creating the 1st Garifuna farmers market: Mercado Wabagari. Weve created an agricultural tool bank & distributed mechanical yuca (manioc root) grinders to insure a stable food supply. Low- or no income women, who have been subsistence level farmers, have led these efforts. Encroachment, violence, & the assassination of our leaders led us to assist, train & empower communities to defend their rights to land & determine their futures.

4) Description of innovation: We are proud of how we have taken what is undervalued in the dominant society – Garifuna traditions & values – & made them the strengths of our projects. Preparing casave bread requires straining the grated root in a tube-like item, made wild vine (balaire) woven by talented Garifuna artisan workers. With the deforestation by outsiders, balaire has become scarce, endangering the elaboration of the ruguma & the production of casave. The concerted effort to preserve & plant it will protect entire eco- systems & promote bio-diversity. It generates income for planters & continues traditional artisan & culinary practices. Wild growing plam – yagua –a hard wood palm is now our focus. We cut it with the correct moon phase, & its wood can last for decades (ideal for our hand-built, thatched roof houses). Also scarce, we have a project to grow it with schools & farmers. We reforest with trees that are used for canoes & other ‘crafts’ e.g. mahogany. We also have an unusual reforestation project of wild fruits such as cocoplums, sea grapes, river apples, wild almonds, & coconut varieties. Combating erosion and protecting biodiversity led us to cultivate seeds & genetic material for crops not grown by the ethnic majority or commercial growers (malanga, white yams, red grow yams, & white & pink sweet potatoes). Our planting of fruit trees helps us mark communities’ ancestral lands, provides an income & improves diets. We are teaching villages tree grafting. Our projects work we

5) Description of the financial model: Our primary source of funding is through fundraising through foundations and other non-profit organizations. We have received funds for specific projects through partnerships with organizations such as Groots International and the Huairou Commission. Support has also come from religious-based organizations through fundraisers for emergency, cultural work, and programs to prevent and alleviate hunger. We have also obtained funds from diverse sources such as producing videos, books and competing in UNDP’s Equator Initiative competitions. Unfortunately, our funding has been short term, although many aspects of our work are self-sustaining once off the ground. The seeds and seedlings for example, all reproduce themselves, so each farmer who receives seeds is commited to return future seeds for redistribution to other farmers. Farmers are also commercializing their work and are in the process of selling their produce in the market and are able to use the initial earnings to cover costs for later marketing. The micro-businesses, after initial assistance, training and provision of materials, are now turning a profit and will soon be self- sustaining.

      Client fees represent this approximate percentage of operational budget: 0%

6) Key operational partnership: Our partnerships at the community, national & global level ground, contribute to & increase the impact of our work. Community-based groups such as Water Collectives & women’s clubs provide grounding for our work; we help provide a vehicle for unity & sharing among towns. We have a valuable national alliance with the official Garifuna NGO representative to the government, able to open doors that we cannot. Here, we strive to be a model of cooperation rather than falling into the morass NGO competition, knowing that in unity there is strength. Globally, our key partnerships come through our membership in the global network of GROOTS International. Through them, we have had an opportunity to share practices, strategies, successes & challenges with women who have recovered from disasters in Turkey, India, Jamaica & Sri Lanka through exchanges and at Grassroots Academies. GROOTS amplifies our voice through access to policymakers at global conferences, the UN & World Bank; we bring the grounding of grassroots realities & an eagerness to share & learn to these fora. This has given our voice greater weight & leverage here in Honduras before a usually reluctant & resistant government.

7) State of implementation:

What specific partnerships do you need to be successful? In order for the strengthening and expansion of our project to be successful, we need not only greater funding partnerships, but more cooperation from the government. Elections in November 2005 have brought a change of administration, and communities continue to get stronger in their capacity to advocate for themselves, so there may be some hope in that regard. Another way in which we need to scale up the work is to tackle some of the ongoing obstacle that communities face. There are untapped resources to help farmers deal with drought, and we have learned techniques for small scale pumps, tanks, reservoirs and irrigation, but we have not had the resources to implement these. Similarly, farmers would like to expand their productivity by cultivating with a tractor – perhaps one shared among the 16 towns – but until this point they still plant by hand with a machete, ‘chancha’ or pick

Comite projects to recover from the hurricane are holistic and integrated, like this project reforesting the beach with wild fruit trees. The young people were eager to participate, as they understand it will help against erosion in future storms and blowing invasive sand dunes, as well as providing fruit for a better diet and income generation.

8) Replication strategy or expectation: