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Coffee, birds, honey and food security in CESMACH

Sumary

Theme: Communication and Marketing for organic agriculture and community development at CESMACH Placement At the CESMACH offices at Jaltenango on the Chiapas State, Mexico. Requeriments: This is a great opportunity for people with e-marketing with interest on the organic agriculture´s community-based enterprises marketing as well to get a deeply understanding on small farming livelihoods. Fluency on Spanish language is an asset. Project language: Mainly Spanish and very limited English Highlights: Visiting the CESMACH members’ organic coffee farms and backyard gardens is an amazing experience in fair trade, organic farming and food security challenges in today’s globalized world, in a biologically and culturally diverse region, which presents many challenges for overcoming marginalization. Short description: Campesinos Ecológicos de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas (CESMACH) is an inspiring organic coffee cooperative. Established in 1994, it currently has more than 350 partners in 24 communities. During its first years, it has focused successfully on the transformation of its production methods; its organic production efforts have been widely recognized due to its success in adapting hundreds of hectares to incorporate organic production methods that are socially and environmentally responsible. Recently, CESMACH has focused on implementing a marketing strategy. Although it has made significant progress in positioning its high quality coffee on the international market, there is still much to be done to achieve the goals that have been proposed. Also, recently CESMACH launched its food security project to diversify production and improve the standard of living for the members’ families and for the community in general. It provides technical assistance and biological material to start vegetable gardens and backyard gardens. Volunteers can participate in activities such as growing coffee, vegetables or on family farms.

Date of start Spring March 28th through April the 9th 2010 Summer June 11th through 23th 2010 Volunteers needed 6 Duration Minumum 2 weeks Prices (In US dollars) 2 Weeks $ 1,200 Additional week $ 600 Book online    Other projects Biomonitoring at El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve Teach English and inistitutional development

 

Detailed information

Example of a week’s work:

The volunteers will be based in Jaltenango, a small city of 10,000 inhabitants, 180 kilometres from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas. Jaltenango is situated at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountains of Chiapas, close to El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, where the CESMACH offices are located. There is cellular phone and internet access in the town. The volunteers will stay in small, simple but comfortable, clean and safe hotels. These hotels have air conditioning, private bathrooms and televisons with a few channels. They do not have a swimming pool or a bar. Food will be prepared in a local restaurant where typical, local dishes are served.