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Groundswell International, Inc.

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Sustainable Development: Agriculture Capacity-building Climate change Desertification and Drought Disaster management and vulnerability Gender equality Protecting and managing the natural resources Rural Development
Geographic scope:	International
Country of activity:	Ecuador Honduras Senegal Haiti Mali India Burkina Faso Guatemala Nepal Ghana Mexico
Millennium Development Goals:	Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Promote gender equality and empower women Ensure environmental sustainability
Mission statement:	Groundswell International strengthens rural communities to build healthy farming and food systems from the ground up. Groundswell International's programs address the root causes of food insecurity, malnutrition, and economic vulnerability with a practical, “learning by doing” approach that builds participants’ confidence while meeting their basic needs. When people see the changes they are bringing about, it empowers them, and soon they become the lead actors in improving their own lives. Groundswell works with local partner organizations in 10 developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and West Africa. While each country program’s design responds to its unique people and context, Groundswell's core programs services focus on: - Improving food production using agroecological techniques to increase yields, adapt to climate change and make small farmers more resilient to other external shocks, while also restoring the natural resource base upon which they depend. - Generating better rural livelihood opportunities through savings and credit groups that give marginalized people access to capital for their productive pursuits, and through the creation of community and individual micro enterprises that increase their incomes. - Creating healthier families through improved food security and nutrition, and by forming health promoters, committees and networks to provide locally-available care and teach others in their communities about nutrition, safe water, sanitation and hygiene. - Strengthening local leadership to ensure gains that are generated are not lost once Groundswell support ends. Every year, Groundswell programs engage over 30,000 rural families, and the collective impact of these actions is tipping the scales towards lasting solutions to hunger and poverty.
Year established:	2009
Year of registration:	2009
Organizational structure:	Groundswell International is a global partnership working to strengthen rural communities to create and spread healthy food and farming systems from the ground up. Groundswell’s founders intentionally opted for a decentralized partnership structure. We prioritize downward accountability to rural communities, rather than upward accountability to external development agendas. We are committed to the global partnership of Groundswell because together we are stronger and can have a great impact in support of rural communities, small-farmer agroecology and local food systems. In general, we work to get to know potential partners by first collaborating on pilot programs. Based on this experience, we will consider whether longer term partnership is of mutual interest. Our criteria for partners includes: 1. Similar vision, mission and values 2. Compatible methodology 3. Partnership is mutually beneficial 4. Willingness to work together on joint programs and learning 5. Capacity for autonomous management 6. Contributes to strategic collective action 7. Geographically strategic 8. Track record and legitimacy 9. Motivated
Number and type of members:	Nine partner NGOs are presently official Groundswell partners: Agroecol Afrique (Senegal); Association Nourrir Sans Détruire (Burkina Faso); Boudha Bahanupati Project – Pariwar (Nepal); Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (Ghana); EkoRural (Ecuador); Partenariat pour le Développement Local (Haiti); La Asociación Qachuu Aloom “Madre Tierra” (Guatemala); Sahel Eco (Mali); and, Vecinos Honduras (Honduras). Additionally, Groundswell has many allies around the world with which it collaborates to achieve the shared objectives of spreading agroecological farming and improving the rural livelihoods and wellbeing for the most marginalized people.
Affiliation with NGO networks:	N/A
Funding structure:	Funds from other Non-Governmental Organizations Fundraising campaigns Grants from Governments Donations and grants from domestic sources

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