Catholic Relief Services

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Catholic Relief Services
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In Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic could throw around 14 million vulnerable people into severe food insecurity. However, the good news is that in the dry corridor of Central America, Catholic Relief Services is showing that food does grow—in pockets of relative prosperity—as a result of improved agricultural practices.  Through our relatively simple water and soil restoration practices, thousands of farm families in the dry corridor have learned to manage their soil and water to produce more, even when it doesn’t rain like it used to. We found that on some 3,000 farms that used these practices, maize yields were 40% percent higher than on conventional plots, even during the severe drought of 2018. This is strong, quantifiable evidence that regenerative agriculture can have major impacts on food security, and indirectly migration. More Information

In the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda, schools are currently closed due to COVID-19, but that doesn't mean that improvement has been halted. The Karuhinda Primary School opened there in February of this year. Catholic Relief Services has been working on expanding the number of classrooms up to 18, which will reduce classroom congestion, allowing for better physical distancing and a more manageable number of pupils for each teacher. Education is crucial for the refugee population, and with school improvements like the ones taking place at Karuhinda Primary School, students there will be able to thrive and reach their full potential. 

In Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic could throw around 14 million vulnerable people into severe food insecurity. However, the good news is that in the dry corridor of Central America, Catholic Relief Services is showing that food does grow—in pockets of relative prosperity—as a result of improved agricultural practices.  Through our relatively simple water and soil restoration practices, thousands of farm families in the dry corridor have learned to manage their soil and water to produce more, even when it doesn’t rain like it used to. We found that on some 3,000 farms that used these practices, maize yields were 40% percent higher than on conventional plots, even during the severe drought of 2018. This is strong, quantifiable evidence that regenerative agriculture can have major impacts on food security, and indirectly migration. More Information

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Catholic Relief Services Latin America Hunger
Alexander Ventura, a farmer in Morazan, El Salvador, shows the difference between corn grown (right) with conventional farming practices and corn produced (left) using water smart agriculture techniques. - Silverlight for Catholic Relief Services