South America




Seedbed of the Future

Regardless of where you are in the world, rural communities play an integral role in society. In Latin America, our Seedbed of the Future (Semillero de Futuro) program is directed at improving struggling rural communities.

Using Monsanto employees throughout the region as its “eyes and ears,” the program works to encourage the development of sustainable projects in order to improve the quality of life of people living and working in rural communities across the region. These include issues such as education, food production, health care, culture promotion and creation of awareness to preserve the environment.

Seedbed of the Future covers the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Corrientes, Misiones, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, San Luis, Salta y Jujuy of the Argentine Republic, the departments of the Eastern Region of the Republic of Paraguay, and Uruguay.

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Argentina


Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Argentina

For Juan Marcelo, a 14-year-old in Zarate, Argentina, participation in a scholarship program offered by the Fundación Cimientos meant he didn’t have to drop out of school when his family fell upon hard times. Marcelo had been recognized as an excellent student with educational plans and goals for the future. But during his third year in high school, his father lost his job, and his home situation changed significantly. His mother had to return to work, and Marcelo had to take on additional responsibilities at home, causing his grades to suffer.

But through the financial and social support the family received from the Fundación Cimientos Scholarship Program, funded in part with $30,000 from the Monsanto Fund, Marcelo was able to finish the school year successfully and begin his fourth year of high school on time.

The scholarship program supports students from low-income families by providing educational mentoring and financial assistance that can be used to cover education needs and any other expenses that may directly affect the students’ ability to attend school.Program participants receive personalized education coaching during the school year, and the students’ parents and/or a tutor meet monthly to talk about the students’ development and school performance. Additionally, there are group meetings where students can discuss issues they are facing as they try to obtain an education.

Once a year, all scholarship recipients are invited to a meeting that includes recreation and reflection activities, encouraging students to further share experiences and strengthening their bonds with their educational coaches.

An independent impact assessment of the program showed students awarded the Cimientos scholarship remain in school more years than their peers who are not in the program, and the scholarships often motivate parents and siblings to return to their own studies. Since the Monsanto Fund began sponsoring students through this program in 2001, 531 scholarships have been granted.

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Brazil


Healthy Children, Healthy Futures in Brazil

For more than a decade, the Monsanto Fund has supported INMED Brazil in their quest to improve the health, nutritional status and environmental awareness of 1.5 million children in Brazil. Through the Healthy Children, Healthy Futures program, INMED is working to:

  • reduce hunger among participating children by increasing the availability of nutritious produce through school gardens and nutrition education for teachers, school food workers and parents of school-age children
  • improve children’s health and nutritional status by increasing their access to nutritious foods, treating them for infections that rob them of vital nutrients, and educating them on good nutrition practices and preventative health, hygiene and sanitation measures
  • build the foundation for long-term improvements in the quality of life for families in the community by enhancing enviromental and health- and nutrition-related education for parents and other community members, and increasing food security by encouraging the use of family gardens

With this approach of family and community education and engagement, the work of INMED, complemented by $2.5 million from the Monsanto Fund, has impacted as many as 5 million people throughout Brazil.

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Paraguay


Learning by Doing Helps Young Women in Paraguay

The belief that young women from any ethnic group and social or economic condition can succeed through effort and perseverance is the motivating force behind a rural technical and agricultural school in Paraguay.

The Centro Educativo Mbaracayú of the Fundación Moisés Bertoni offers young women the ability “to learn by doing,” and these efforts are supported with $40,000 from the Monsanto Fund to help purchase furniture, teaching and research materials, and modern technology equipment.

Fifty-one students completed the first-year subjects — learning skills necessary to obtain jobs that pay fair wages and contribute to the self-sustainability of the center through agriculturally related “businesses,” such as a vegetable garden and the production of cow milk, eggs and pigs.

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Monsanto Fund is focused on investing in the following areas:

  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras
  • Paraguay
  • Uruguay