Introducing El Puente

The majority of families living in rural communities surrounding Chisec have homes with dirt floors since they cannot afford concrete. A World Bank analysis of a concrete floor program led by the Mexican government showed that providing concrete floors leads to 76% reduction in parasitic infections, 49% reduction in the incidence of diarrhea, 81% reduction in anemia, and between 36 and 96% improvement in cognitive development in children. For a modest investment of $800 per home, you can make a major impact in the life of a family.  So far, we have been able to provide 71 floors in the communities of San Simon, La Planada, Chinaboquil, and Chisec.

Many communities face a severe lack of water during the dry season each year, being forced to walk long distances to polluted rivers, find caves with water pools, or purchase water in larger towns. We have already provided the village of La Planada with a well (238 feet deep, producing 11 gpm of fresh water) with a solar pump and three 10,000 liter water storage tanks to provide water for the entire community of 120 families. We have also provided the villages of San Simon and El Porvenir with wells. Other projects include water catchment and filtration systems for homes (since there is a surplus of water during the rainy season).  We are currently also exploring supporting a small business startup to produce certified purified water for sale at low costs in neighboring communities.  A well costs about $6000 - 10,000, large community water tanks about $10,000 - 20,000, and catchment systems for homes between $400 and $700.

W completed two experimental growing seasons. We evaluated several locally available seed varieties, as well as different planting techniques and fertilization strategies. In some cases, we demonstrated the potential to approximately double yield and/or farmer profit. Currently, we have five local farmers in two villages replicating the recommendations from our research (funded by us in order to eliminate the "risk" element for the farmers). The intent is to enable local farmers to experience a real yield benefit, and encourage them to modify their planting approaches in the future and share their experience with other farmers, leading to "viral" reapplication.

Our tilapia research effort in Punta de Palma, Guatemala, demonstrated the ability to grow out approximately 1000 harvestable tilapia in a 25 m3 pond using intensive aquaculture techniques. We are currently working with a local family to transition this to a sustainable and profitable business.

Our current efforts are focused on recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for families. Over the past 2 years, in partnership with Northwest Nazarene University, we installed, and successfully demonstrated a solar-powered RAS at our El Puente site and an attached hydroponics system. This combined aquaponics system can produce up to 200 1+ lb tilapia and several hundred pounds of tomatoes over a 4 months grow-out period. The RAS is the basis for demonstrating family-sized systems that can be replicated using locally available components. We plan to provide the first system(s) to local families in the next 6 months to learn what is required for this approach to be profitable in a local village context.

AgInno also partners locally and globally with other ministries, organizations, and communities to provide technical guidance and consultation on agriculture problems and opportunities. Sharing is a basic tenet of both the scientific community and Christianity. Examples to-date include sponsored research on sustainable fish feed (Purdue University), an appropriately scaled paddle wheel aerator system for reduced electricity consumption (Olivet Nazarene University - ONU), solar power systems for fishpond aerators (ONU), and an RAS/aquaponics system with a locally producible biofilter system (Northwest Nazarene University). We also partnered with Mount Vernon Nazarene University to explore the use of a fixed-wing UAV (drone) as a support platform for multi-spectral cameras for agricultural assessments.  We also partnered with Servants Hearts Ministries to drill the wells in the three villages over the past few years.