Thriving Communities, Healthy Landscapes
We're helping more than two million farmers embrace more sustainable growing practices that can help build resilience to climate change and boost yields.
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What's at Stake
Across the tropics, farming and forest communities face a daily struggle to cover life’s basic needs. Breaking the cycle of rural poverty—and tackling the ensuing impacts for people and nature—is critical for a more sustainable future for us all.
RURAL POVERTY, DEFORESTATION, AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Rural poverty is at the root of many of our most pressing global challenges, from child labor and poor working conditions to deforestation for agricultural expansion. Economic desperation exacerbates these complex issues, which are deeply embedded in global supply chains. The result is a vicious cycle of environmental destruction and human suffering.
Our Work: Livelihoods
The Rainforest Alliance partners with frontline communities to build thriving rural economies rooted in more sustainable growing practices and forest stewardship. We also promote responsible business practices to ensure that companies recognize and reward sustainability transformation—in the field as well as the boardroom.
Our Work to Improve Rural Livelihoods
To improve rural livelihoods, we foster deep collaboration between farmers, civil society organizations, companies, and governments.
Our Work with the Global Living Wage Coalition
The Rainforest Alliance believes that workers around the world should be paid enough money to provide a decent life for themselves and their families.
Innovative Ways to Enhance Living Income for Cocoa Farmers
At the Rainforest Alliance, we believe in a shared responsibility approach that encourages companies to do their part in ensuring a living income for farmers. This is the basis of our initiatives, the Living Income Module and the Living Income Fund.
All resources for Livelihoods
The Business Case for Collective Landscape Action
Rates of forest and biodiversity loss are accelerating throughout the tropics alongside escalating global impacts of climate change. Commodities such as coffee, timber, palm oil, rubber, and cocoa drive much of this deforestation. We need transformative solutions to ensure a climate-positive future that creates long-term benefits for people and nature. The Business Case for Collective […]
Feed the Future Honduras Productive Agroforestry Systems
The northern Atlantic region of Honduras has vast production and forest corridors. The region offers excellent agroecological conditions for diverse and sustainable production of key commodities such as timber, shade-grown cocoa and cardamom, and exotic and citrus fruits. However, dominant production models are unsustainable, contribute to widespread production inefficiencies, and deteriorate the natural resources that […]
Prosperous and Resilient Landscapes in Guatemala
In Guatemala, large swaths of rural populations depend on ever-collapsing ecosystems and fast-disappearing natural resources for their livelihoods. Decreased incomes limit families’ ability to respond to weather- and market-related shocks, and unsustainable production practices put immense pressure on forests, further threatening livelihoods. Economic desperation leads many communities to turn to informal, temporary income sources, or […]
Resilient Ecosystems and Sustainable Transformation of Rural Economies
Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are the largest producers of cocoa in the world, with millions of families relying on the crop for their livelihoods. Yet cocoa farmers earn, on average, only six percent of the final product’s value in stores, making poverty and food insecurity common. Additionally, women make up a significant part of the […]
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Women provide immense contributions to productive value chains globally. Throughout Mesoamerica, women work in the production of coffee, cocoa, cardamom, potato, and so many other crops that global markets demand. As part of our Women’s Economic Empowerment in Mesoamerica Initiative, the Rainforest Alliance and partners are working alongside women, including Indigenous women and youth, in […]
Amazon Bioeconomy Marketplace Initiative
In partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Rainforest Alliance is implementing the first phase of IDB’s Amazon Bioeconomy Marketplace (ABM) initiative to improve socioeconomic conditions, fight climate change, and help restore ecosystems in the Amazon by supporting the identification and growth of export-oriented sustainable bio-businesses. Through training and technical assistance activities on sustainability […]