More Dignified Livelihoods: Beyond economic growth

One of our top priorities is helping create work opportunities that people can be proud of and that contribute to a higher standard of living. As TWP, we want to transcend the notion of "Economic Development" or "Economic Growth",  terms that are often far from the real needs and demands of Central American communities and families.

Dignified livelihoods means that quality of life encompasses much more than income generation, it must generate systemic solutions, be equitable, sustainable, fair, and with transversal values of solidarity and respect between people. We have rooted this vision in our priorities to strengthen the efforts of Central American communities towards resilience in the face of the local post-Covid- economic crisis.

Hand in hand with our partners and communities, TWP has reinforced the programs in the region with new collaboration dynamics and the creation of opportunities that empower communities to seek creative, sustainable and culturally appropriate solutions. We are proud to close the year 2022 with successful results aimed to strengthen “campesinos”,  clean cooking cookstoves markets and small productive ventures, which alleviate particularly vulnerable economic sectors.

In Honduras, 41 Cookstoves Builders (MF) are active as part of an expanding network that promotes the Justa Clean Cooking Stoves and has benefited more than 22,130 people in low-income households throughout the country in the last two years. Independent MFs have increased their income by 38.5% as a complement to their productive activities, and 72% for MFs that are dedicated full-time to the cookstoves construction business. In 2023, 3,000 more units will be installed under the Carbon Credit Program.

Moving on from National to local, our partners Árboles y Agua para el Pueblo de El Salvador (AAP) and the Community Forestry Association of Guatemala Utz Che’ have facilitated the creation and/or strengthening of collective and community productive ventures based on the needs expressed by the communities.

In the last year, 14 groups in El Salvador have applied the training and seed capital provided by AAP to strengthen their agricultural ventures and community services. This is the successful result of an AAP pilot plan to incorporate a microfinance culture in the communities as a complementary activity to the projects in Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources.

Utz Che´, as experts in Social Solidarity Economy, continues to generate social, economic and political impact, promoting 22 economic resilience initiatives based on local markets, “campesinos” exchanges, and indigenous traditions of common well-being. The grassroots community organizations designed and executed their production plans based on the needs, experience, and traditions of the families in agroecology, services related to food security, trade in medicinal plants, and textile manufacturing.

Thanks to the support of our collaborators, we can continue promoting community-based initiatives that slowly but steadily achieve local transformations towards dignified ways of life.