Community Agroecology Network

CAN's network provides rural communities in Mexico, Central America and California with the tools to become economically viable through agriculture while also benefiting the environment through:Action Research: Farm-based research involving investigators and farmers with information generated from within and provided to the community. This year CAN facilitated action research initiatives in Chiapas and Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and Las Segovias, Nicaragua, focused on building food security and sovereignty among small farmers and their families.Education: Community education, technical assistance, leadership development, consumer education, and ongoing exchanges and participation between the member communities. This year CAN held an international youth exchange focused on food sovereignty in California. CAN also raised awareness on U.S. campuses about food justice and mentored U.S. university students through various internships in the U.S. and member communities. Marketing: Development of producer-controlled markets that support local communities and create direct links with consumers. CAN has developed a "Fair Trade Direct" coffee marketing system. By linking coffee co-ops in Nicaragua and Mexico with U.S. consumers, CAN helps farmers receive and just and sustainable price for their coffee. Through linking growers and consumers in a "Global Village Market," CAN connects economic viability with ecological farming practices, including transitioning to organic production and reforestation. Fiscal Sponsor of Tierras Milperas Project: This project is building alternative livelihoods to the extractive agroindustry by reconnecting our 110 families to the living memory of our native seeds, customs, our traditional forms of social organization, and innovating forms of community exchange and community economics in the Pajaro Valley of California.