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Art 71. Rurality: a choice, not a punishment

Through agroecology, community savings, food sovereignty, and women taking the lead, it is demonstrated that desirable future prospects and dignified living conditions are possible even in rural areas.
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From farmer to farmer

The ACESH (Association of Agroecological Committees of Southern Honduras) is an organization of people who believe in and practice agroecology, located in the municipality of Concepción de María, in the southernmost part of the department of Choluteca, Honduras. It was founded several years ago by a group of agroecological promoters accompanied by the Catholic Church of Choluteca, under the guidance of Monika Hesse and Roberto Rodríguez. Among its founders is Feliciano Castillo, a tireless farmer who has dedicated his life to promoting sustainable agriculture, defending the land and nature, food sovereignty, and community organization.
ACESH is made up of people from rural backgrounds. Despite working as promoters within the association, they have never stopped being farmers. Most of the team are women, many of whom are young. Feliciano recalls: “At first, even the men on the board of directors questioned the fact that the promoters were women”. The women, in turn, acknowledge that it was not easy to change men’s perceptions of gender equality. Today, most of the groups in the 32 villages and communities that make up the organization are led by women. Although men also participate, it is the women who take on the leadership roles. The changes achieved by ACESH – and there are many – have been driven from the grassroots, by the people themselves, following the principle that best defines its essence: from farmers, for farmers.

From urgency to collective roots

We are visiting the community of Nance Dulce and meeting the members of the rural credit union, which is made up of local people. The members of the group who welcome us today recall that it all began in 2017 with seed donations from the World Food Program (WFP). What was originally conceived as an emergency aid initiative, ACESH managed to transform into the catalyst for a community process of organization and self-help. Zulema López, one of the members, recalls: “ACESH was the channel for delivering WFP donations. In addition to providing seeds and food, they also trained us in agroecology. That’s how we learned to work the land without chemicals, using organic fertilizers that we made ourselves “.
Alongside donations, ACESH helped organize the group of neighbors into a rural savings union, which now has 25 members, 17 of whom are women. Each member contributes monthly savings – between one and three dollars in local currency – and the group manages the local supply of basic grains (corn and beans), generating collective profits. As well as promoting savings, the fund encourages its members to engage in organic farming among: they make compost, grow native seeds, and maintain agroecological practices. A group of 25 people, many of whom are also members of the fund, produce honey that they sell in the local market. These efforts have strengthened the food sovereignty of families and allowed for a slight capitalization of the group, which has already acquired land and built its own headquarters, with a community grain warehouse. Products delivered to the credit union by families are paid for through deposits into their savings accounts, thereby strengthening the local economy.
Prices and interest rates are preferential for members, which encourages more neighbors to join. Antolino Rodríguez, president of the credit union, explains: “To be part of the group, you must be willing to practice agroecological agriculture”. Today, there are similar groups in the 32 villages and communities of the municipality of Concepción de María, near the border with Nicaragua. All are part of the organizational fabric of ACESH, where aid has been transformed into sustainability and cooperation into shared hope.

Community markets and local sourcing

The groups organize a community market in their neighborhood once a month – sometimes even more frequently – to sell the products they grow. Those who have not planted crops can purchase staple foods such as corn, beans and vegetables at affordable prices, which ensures a local supply and fosters solidarity among neighbors. As the families’ production is based on native seeds, organic fertilizers and agrochemical-free practices, the whole community’s diet has become healthier and more sustainable. Most of the produce is intended for self-consumption and the sale of local surpluses, avoiding the high costs of transporting goods to urban markets. Aracely Castillo, a resident of the village of Muñeco and a member of the ‘Fe y Esperanza’ rural credit union, shares her experience: “Before joining the group, we didn’t produce much and had to buy in Concepción. Now we have our own plots and gardens, and we produce food for our own consumption and for sale. We spend a lot less”.
Although most families have small plots of land, these groups show that progress can be made through organization and collective learning. Like the rural credit union in Nance Dulce, the Muñeco group has managed to establish its own community center, build metal silos to store grain, and raise a fund of more than 120,000 lempiras (about US$4,000) to grant solidarity loans. The rural credit unions know each other, share what they have learned, and constantly exchange experiences. The training opportunities promoted by ACESH – which focuses on managing plots of land, vegetable gardens, native seeds, savings, and fund management – are always developed horizontally, following a farmer-to-farmer methodology that values and strengthens local capacities.

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK...

What factors are decisive for a community process to be sustained and self-managed over time? Could you identify other areas in which this strategy, based on participation, shared knowledge and autonomy, could be applied?

The countryside: a place of change, not escape

ACESH promotes the participation of young people in training and community organization processes. Erson Castillo, a second-generation representative within the association, sums up the challenge clearly: “The countryside must lose its image as a punishment in the minds of young people.” Although there are increasingly more young people attending meetings and joining the team of promoters, it remains a reality that many seek their future by migrating to the city or north, to the United States. For ACESH promoters, it is essential that families encourage their children to get involved in community processes. The spaces created by the organization strengthen reciprocity, learning, and dialogue between generations, showing that the countryside can also be a place of opportunity.

Improving the well-being of rural families through self-managed processes encourages a fresh perspective on rural life. As Ricci Hernández, an ACESH promoter, puts it: “I am not interested in migrating. Opportunities have opened for young people in these processes”. The consolidation of organic farming and crop diversification has enabled added value to be created with products such as fruit jams and honey, proving that the countryside can be synonymous with future and dignity.

HEY...

When faced with the option of community markets and local sourcing, many urban dwellers who are aware of the need for healthy eating encounter barriers to accessing healthy products. What measures could urban consumers take to establish equal, collaborative relationships with rural agroecological communities?

When the community becomes the guardian

Faced with multiple threats to its territory, including genetically modified and hybrid seeds, extractive mining in neighboring municipalities with intense gold mining activity and the effects of the climate crisis, the ACESH Association has promoted an active network of community committees to defend nature. These committees operate in all villages and communities, promoting surveillance, environmental education and local political management. The impact of their advocacy work is significant. Thanks to the organization and persistence of the community, the municipal government has approved binding declarations that protect their territorial and environmental sovereignty. Firstly, native seeds were declared the heritage of the people, guaranteeing their free circulation, exchange, sale and reproduction. Mining was also banned within the municipal jurisdiction, and an ordinance was passed to prevent burning to contribute to soil and forest conservation.
Faced with the risk of losing native seeds, whether due to legal pressures or physical disappearance, ACESH works on two complementary fronts: legal defense and agroecological rescue. Feliciano Castillo, a long-standing supporter of the organization, sums it up as follows: “Seeds do not always have to be uniform; rather, they should be diverse and adapted to local circumstances”. Thanks to this approach, varieties of yellow and black corn, as well as aromatic and medicinal plants, and other traditional species, have been rescued. In each community, at least two people are responsible for caring for, reproducing and selling these local seeds. This forms a network of community seed banks – a living symbol of farmer autonomy and resistance.

HEY...

Perhaps the answer lies in two-way solidarity, with producers and consumers recognizing themselves as part of the same fabric of life.

When teaching is a way of sowing seeds

In villages and communities, people promote their own solutions. Rather than waiting for institutions to act, they organize clean-up days, repair roads, set up community markets and maintain constant dialogue with local authorities. When the river crossing the village of Muñeco washed away the suspension bridge during a flood, it was the community that built a new one in less than half a year through its organization and leveraging of solidarity support, a symbol of its collective strength.
Johana Espino, a member of the group in Muñeco, sums up simply what it means to live well in rural areas: “We share what we have learned, giving our knowledge to others”. Thus, the countryside demonstrates that cooperation and shared learning are the basis of its sustainability. In every action and every act of solidarity, the commitment of ACESH and its members is reaffirmed: Rural life is a dignified choice, not a punishment.

Give us your opinions and readings! Share your ideas on our social media and let’s join voices to build a meaningful, equitable, and sustainable tomorrow.

Messages to the Future

1

When communities trust in their own ability to transform their environment, a dignified life with well-being, quality of life and self-managed processes becomes possible. This does not involve miracles, but rather awareness, organization and collective action. Rather than being seen as backwardness, rurality is revealed as a way of life, a source of meaning, identity, and balance with nature.

2

Endogenous circuits of shared knowledge, local production and consumption, solidarity economy, and respect for natural cycles are the seeds of a new civilization model. When rural communities organize and manage their resources horizontally, they demonstrate that different worlds can be built from the ground up, with deep roots and hands that sow hope.

3

With their quiet yet resolute leadership, women have been a driving force and a moral compass in this process. By challenging machismo, they are transforming not only family and community relationships, but also paving the way for a fairer, more compassionate and equitable society.

This article was written by Jorge Krekeler, coordinator of the Almanac of the Future and facilitator for Misereor, on behalf of Agiamondo, during a visit to the Association of Agroecological Committees of Southern Honduras (ACESH). The trip included a tour of various villages and communities in the municipality of Concepción de María, in the south of the department of Choluteca, near the border with Nicaragua.

The Almanac of the Future expresses its deep gratitude to Feliciano and Erson Josué Castillo, Enita Juárez, Heydi Varela, Carolina Torres, Consuelo García, Magda Torrez, Unicer Martínez, Denis Hernández, and Nelson Cepeda of ACESH; as well as to the members of the Nance Dulce Savings Union, and to Zulema López, Antolino Rodríguez, Laura Mendoza, Lixi Varela, Ricci Hernández, and Anastasio Arce.

Special recognition goes to the Fe y Esperanza group from the village of Muñeco, particularly Araceli Castillo, Johana Espino, and Rebeca Zepeda, for their kindness, time, and trust in welcoming the curious visit from the Almanac of the Future.

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Authors:

Design:

  • Gabriela Avendaño

Photos:

    • ACESH
    • Jorge Krekeler

Contact information regarding the documented experience:

  • Association of Agroecological Committees of Southern Honduras – ACESH

    • Facebook: ACESH
    • Whatsapp: +504 9864-0247

Edition:

july 2026

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