Huichol Women’s Project for Nutrition and Income Generation – Tenzompan, MX
The village of Tenzompan is located high in the Sierra Madre mountains of Jalisco State. In the 1990’s, the Government of Mexico built simple greenhouses/hoophouses in many poor communities to reduce malnutrition, particularly for indigenous families. Despite good intentions, most of these projects were not successful, and are no longer in use. Tenzompa is a case in point – with a TGC solution.
The Tenzompan hoophouse was too far from water. Water is heavy; hauling water for hundreds of meters was a huge burden for the women-growers. Too much effort… Project abandoned.
THE PROJECT
In 2005, The Growing Connection (TGC), with the Universidad de Guadalajara Co-op Program and Fundación Selva Negra began working in Tenzompan. The hoophouse was rebuilt; TGC installed 40 growing containers. The village women were trained in innovative, low-input vegetable production. These changes proved successful, particularly due to the 60% – 80% water savings of our containers. The Tenzompan women’s project thrives today, and has been augmented by 20 more containers.
IMPACT
The women using the hoophouse and their families are better nourished (chard, spinach, celery in the cool season; tomatoes, eggplant and peppers in warmer months). Also vitally important, the women supplement their income by selling surplus food in the local market.
TGC provided the most appropriate growing system to dramatically reduce the labor of hauling water. With much less water to carry, the women gave renewed efforts to growing fresh, nutritious food.