ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Income opportunities and sustainable livelihoods are a key to creating lasting impact on local environments, while accelerating self-sufficiency and community resiliency.

Conservation can, and should, improve the livelihoods of local people. Communities can’t thrive if they can’t make a living, so TWP approaches natural resource management with an eye toward creating income opportunities for communities living closest to critical ecosystems. Equitable and robust local economies allow people to invest in their homes, fund their kids’ education, start small businesses, and build wealth. A vibrant economy is the best way to keep families thriving where they are.

Economic Development Stories
Vanilla and Turmeric - Job Creation in Nicaragua
Bright Futures, Doselva, employment, Nicaragua, Economic Development
Vanilla and Turmeric - Job Creation in Nicaragua
Bright Futures, Doselva, employment, Nicaragua, Economic Development

Smallholder livelihoods across Central America are threatened by extreme weather, warmer average temperatures, and a longer dry season related to climate change. Many of the smallholder farmers we work with in Central America depend on coffee for a major share of their income, but with prices at 15-year lows, coffee is currently being harvested at a loss and rural incomes have plummeted.

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Bright Futures, Doselva, employment, Nicaragua, Economic Development
Early Bet, Ongoing Impact
Bright Futures, clean cookstoves, cleantech products, employment, fuel-efficient stoves, Honduras, International Program, TWP Staff, Economic Development
Early Bet, Ongoing Impact
Bright Futures, clean cookstoves, cleantech products, employment, fuel-efficient stoves, Honduras, International Program, TWP Staff, Economic Development

In the community development sector, it often takes years to know how well an idea delivers on its potential. “Clean” cookstoves were a relatively blunt tool at the time – there were few, simple designs, minimal geographic coverage, and a nascent understanding of what made an “improved” cookstove better than tried and true traditional options.

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Bright Futures, clean cookstoves, cleantech products, employment, fuel-efficient stoves, Honduras, International Program, TWP Staff, Economic Development
How Can We Reduce Migration Out of Central America?
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, indigenous, Nicaragua, sustainable development, Economic Development
How Can We Reduce Migration Out of Central America?
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, indigenous, Nicaragua, sustainable development, Economic Development

Last week on Colorado Public Radio, I heard about a Pew Research Center study on U.S. immigration from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras — an area known as the Northern Triangle. The study shows that while annual immigration to the U.S. from Mexico fell by 5% after the Great Recession, migration from the Northern Triangle rose by almost 30% during that same period.

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El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, indigenous, Nicaragua, sustainable development, Economic Development

Our Vision

  • Close-up of a large agave plant growing on a tree trunk in a misty forest setting.

    Healthy Watersheds

    Healthy watersheds provide water, food, natural and cultural resources to sustain Indigenous communities across the Americas, and are habitat to diverse and resilient ecosystems.

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  • An elderly man sitting on a bench in a park, wearing a brimmed cap and a white T-shirt, with his hands clasped in prayer. Next to him, a young man is sitting with his head bowed and hands clasped, appearing to be in prayer. Other people are visible in the background under a shaded area.

    Resilient Communities

    Local people, especially women, youth, and sovereign Tribal nations, need a permanent seat at the table when decisions are being made about their land, resources, and economic futures.

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