The Inga Foundation (Honduras)
The Inga Foundation grew out of a long-term scientific research project into slash-and-burn agriculture and the need to find an alternative agriculture system that could save farmers from having to clear new areas of rainforest year after year, just to survive.
The Inga Foundation now works to help communities and farmers in Honduras, as well as in other humid tropics, to shift from slash-and-burn to the tried and tested alternative system that emerged from years of dedicated research: Inga Alley-Cropping.
Inga Alley-Cropping involves planting the nitrogen-fixing tree species from the genus Inga in hedgerows. The ability of the resilient Inga tree to regenerate the steepest and most degraded land and enrich depleted soil dramatically can transform lives and landscapes. Alleys survive the most severe climate shocks of heat, drought, and hurricanes. Inga Alley-Cropping yields 100% food-security in basic grains, together with a reliable income from organic cash-crops, and a critical resource--renewable firewood from the annual pruning of the trees.
Inga Alley-Cropping also significantly reduces global carbon emissions, protects wildlife and marine habitats, saves standing trees, and preserves water sources with no negative impact whatsoever.
In 2024-2025, the Eurofins Foundation is contributing to the project “Land for Life--organic, regenerative agroforestry with the Inga Tree Model.”
Working in communities located on steep terrain in the many river catchments of Northern Honduras, this project will add up to 40 new families to the Inga Alley-Cropping system, providing training and helping with establishing tree nurseries and planting. In addition, families who began the system two years prior will be assisted with their first pruning by providing each family with ample firewood for a year, plus surplus to sell or trade.
These projects contribute to the following United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
