Rural towns in Bolivia suffer from inadequate nutrition, severe poverty, illiteracy, poor housing conditions and a host of other factors that contribute to poor public health.  Thankfully, they are getting much needed support from The Conservation, Food & Health Foundation, who recently awarded a $20,000 grant to Esperança in support of quinoa farming.

The project will impact nearly every resident.  It will provide an extremely nutritious food source to all residents, improve sustainable farming practices for local growers, provide an opportunity for growers to form associations, and offer business opportunities for packaging and marketing to other local residents.

“Esperança will help train the local producers on how to farm quinoa,” said Tom Egan, president and CEO of Esperança.  “We expect that our family farmers will be able to earn 3-4 times more income growing quinoa than they earned in the past with rice and potatoes.  It’s an excellent source of protein and something that has worldwide marketability.”