Indigenous groups make up about one third of the population of Central America. Often, however, they represent an even larger share of the poorer population. At the same time, these groups have a lot of knowledge about the environmentally conscious management of natural resources. A fund, managed by adelphi on behalf of KfW, financed initiatives of indigenous and farmer groups to improve the living conditions of the local population, conserving resources and, for example, supporting climate change adaptation.
As part of the project, adelphi organised the establishment of the fund, the development of the criteria for awarding funding and, ultimately, the identification, financing and implementation of projects with indigenous and farming communities. In this context, the cultural values and traditions of the indigenous groups were taken into special account and funded via projects. Eligible project ideas included initiatives in the field of ethno and agritourism. Further, project proposals dealing with the topics of nature conservation, forestry communities, food security, and indigenous autonomy were also eligible for funding consideration.
adelphi together with the Costa Rica based organisation Fundación Neotrópica carried out the project activities for the indigenous associations ACICAFOC and CICA/Sotzil. All activities were conducted in Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize.
