Institución Mesoamericano de Permacultura - IMAP

Non profit organization
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(+502) 4549-0578

The Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura (Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura - IMAP) is a non-profit organization based in Guatemala. It was founded in 2000 by a group of local people concerned about the serious environmental, social, political and cultural problems that affect Mesoamerican communities.

We have established an education center where we promotes the teaching of Permaculture techniques, the conservation of biodiversity, the production of seeds and vegetables in an organic way, and a seed bank that fights for the rescue of the heritage of native seeds.

Women, Men, Girls, Boys, Indigenous peoples, Animals, Entrepreneurs
Education, Children at risk, Family, Technical vocations, Justice, Health, Energy, Entrepreneurship/Business, Microfinance, Environment, Water and sanitation, Development/Community infrastructure, Agriculture, Leadership/Capacitation, Housing, Volunteer/Sustainable travel, Emergency relief
Sololá (San Lucas Tolimán)

Table of contents

Organizational contacts & locations

Contacts
Rolando Sequeq Sulugui
Coordinator
Ines Cuj
Administrative Accountant
Myriam Legault
Coordination of International Programs
Locations
Caserío Pachitulul
San Lucas Tolimán, 
Sololá, 
07013

Mission, vision & values

Mission

IMAP empowers communities and individuals to ensure food sovereignty, environmental sanitation, the use of native seeds, and the conservation of local ecosystems.

We carry out our mission and vision through community service, workshops, courses, tours, and consultancies.

Vision

Based on ancestral knowledge and the principles of Permaculture, IMAP promotes the well-being of both the community and the individual to carry out good living, resulting in a proximity to food sovereignty, an improvement in environmental sanitation and the conservation of biodiversity.

Values
We value caring for the land, people, and resources.

Products, services, and programs

Products

We offer certified courses, workshops, tours, consultancies, and a permaculture educational residency program.

We also offer Native and Creole seeds, medicinal plants in pylons or stems, amaranth products, coffee, honey, jams and handicrafts.

Services

We have facilities for training, food prepared with fresh ingredients from our garden and lodging in our cabins.

Programs

Educational program:

Its objective is to promote the creation of sustainable solutions based on permaculture design and popular and ancestral knowledge. We hope that by the end of the year 2022, 1,500 people will be directly inducted through the activities of the education project and at least 25% of them will replicate this new knowledge.

Biodiversity program:

The purpose of this project aims to contribute to the rescue, conservation and adaptation of native and Creole biodiversity. By 2022 we want to have guaranteed access to 60 varieties of seeds and work with 20 producers.

Food sovereignty program:

The intention of this project is to establish agroecological food production systems that integrate the diversification of crops and the processing of crops with native plants.

Institutional strengthening program:

The objective is to guarantee the continuous improvement of an efficient, transparent and self-sustainable institutional structure. IMAP aims to be part of local, national and regional networks, strengthen internal management and control systems and ensure the necessary resources to realize its vision.

Organizational detail

Founded: 
2000
Number of employees: 
0-10
Funding: 
Private donations, Fundraising, Participant Fees
Primary issue(s) / need(s) addressed

We address environmental, social and cultural problems that affect Guatemalan society. Combining ancestral knowledge and education in Permaculture. The general objective is to promote and contribute to the integral and sustainable development of small producers and indigenous communities in Mesoamerica.

Impact, adaptations & objectives

Impact to date

Since its inception, IMAP has trained more than 10,000 small producers in the production and harvest of native plants and the conservation of resistant native seeds, significantly increasing the ability of men and women to adapt to climate variability, strengthening the local market and promoting food sovereignty.

IMAP also focuses on fighting malnutrition in Guatemala, improving nutritional quality through highly nutritious crops, such as amaranth and chan.

Impact measuring

Impact is measured through annual impact reports of each of the achievements that were obtained.

Organizational adaptations: 
Size and/or structure, Key offerings, How you collaborate or work with others
Organizational adaptation details

Size and/or structure

Now we have facilities for training, food prepared with fresh ingredients from our garden and lodging in our cabins.

Key offerings

We have developed our services, products and programs to include:

  • Services such as courses, workshops, tours, consultancies, certified courses, and an educational residency program.
  • Products such as native and creole seeds, medicinal plants, in pylons or stems, amaranth products, coffee, honey, jams and handicrafts.
  • Programs such as education, biodiversity, food sovereignty and Institutional strengthening programs.

How you collaborate or work with others

To promote food sovereignty and the conservation of biodiversity, empowering individuals and communities in Mesoamerica.

Short term objectives

Growth

Education: Improve our documentation center, also systematize popular knowledge, create and design contextualized educational materials.

Biodiversity: Systematize the best local practices to produce seeds.

Food Sovereignty: Promoting the diversification of products and services that producer families can offer and thus contribute to the strengthening of marketing and distribution systems.

Institutional Strengthening: Promote continuous training and a good work environment for the IMAP team.

Quality

Through Mesoamerican Permaculture education, knowledge of ancestral knowledge is strengthened through practices, applying the ethics of permaculture, caring for the earth, caring for people, and sharing resources, promoting the coexistence of biodiversity. with each of the ecosystems.

Impact

Ensure that the extension of alternative knowledge has a national and international scope, to publicize the work that IMAP carries out with the indigenous communities of Guatemala.

Long term objectives

Growth

Education: Apply permaculture principles and ancestral knowledge in the plots, communities, houses and social structures. In addition, we want to collect good harvest and post-harvest practices in diversified plots.

Biodiversity: This work area includes activities such as maintenance of the processing center, compliance with sanitary and legal regulations.

Food Sovereignty: Enforcement of compliance with sanitary and legal regulations, the exchange of knowledge and the facilitation of access to educational materials.

Institutional Strengthening: Ensure the solvency of the institution before official entities, allies and communities and guarantee the efficient and ethical use of resources.

Quality

Empower a diversity of people who seek good living by applying Permacultural techniques and agroecological culture.

Impact

Promote food sovereignty, respecting diversity, strengthening communities and people who want to know a good life, through a responsible consumption of natural resources.