TLDR

Support women farmers in Uruguay by funding transportation and technical assistance for regenerative practices, empowering them with knowledge, social connection, and landscape regeneration, while expanding educational impact across the region.

Application video

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/stFfNB7NohA

Idea

Describe your project in 80 characters or less.

Monthly women ranchers’ meetings across Uruguay’s grasslands bioregion

What is the problem or frustration you want to solve using this grant?

Technical assistant and transportation to move from one ranch to another in the country are costly. Some of the women who could benefit from these regen. practices cannot afford either costs. We already have a group going with half that support -for only 6 ladies from the Savory Institute Hub in Uruguay, however, there are others very interested in joining our holistic management practices regenerating our landscapes, ourselves and our communities but they lack the financial solvency to attend.

Why do you think it has yet to be solved? Is it merely a lack of funding or are there other barriers at play?

I know they don’t join for they don’t have the means to pay for the two-days the technical advisors’ visit to each farm (UDS 500/year/person-farm) and to drive and visit other farms sometimes requires to stay at local hotels to spend the night due to long distances to reach each others’ farms. Since this project is new our members are scattered all

What is the best-case outcome of receiving this grant?

Women with small farming operations could be empowered with knowledge and techniques to improve their work, they could benefit from social contact with others since most stay at home and it is their ‘men’ who go out for information. These ladies are part of a group Pampeanas Regenerativas Orientales who work toward regeneration in all aspects of li

If you had access to 10x the funding amount, what could you improve? How would the outcome and impact change?

Education at local and national level. Uruguay is a relatively small country and it is easy to show impact. Education of women leading regen projects at their homes, farms, villages, cities. There is a huge lack of conscience of what is happening with the planetary urgent situation for action, there is a huge ignorance on what needs to be done.

Execution

How will you carry out the project and bring it to completion?

I am the president of the Pampeanas Regenerativas Orientales (PRO) non-profit NGO whose members work toward the spreading of regenerative actions in Uruguay and the Pampa Bio-region. By supporting women farmers we could start to implement regenerative practices at all levels (agri/person) and to spread the work we are doing into the Brazilian and Argentine bioregional women farmers who are eager to learn from our experience. Please check www.pampeanas.com.uy our group founded in 2019 by me and 4

What is an interesting (operational) detail about the project that is non-obvious to an outsider?

That when women farmers meet, the leading voices and feelings for the land are femenine, the decision makers are the women (supported - or not) by their pairs. This group has meticulously registered its numbers in detail (meat/wool/milk/etc…production per hectare) measured in $$ but it is the only group in the country measuring ecological outcomes

What does the timeline to completion look like? Any major factors that could delay the project? Any hard deadlines you need to comply with?

The project is already going with the support of our group, and this year we got 50% of the technical assistance for 6 farmers supported by the Savory Institute. However, there are at least 8 ladies eager to join who don’t have the means and I know many more would join if they knew they were financed. These visits to other farms are special for all

Are you already working on this project, and for how long? What have you learned?

Yes, for 1 1/2 years. We learnt that when women tend to the land other factors come into play: regeneration, care of the resources (natural and human), more emphatic decision-making; more involvement of other family/workers/neighbors actors. Women have no shame to share worries, women are to generate and regenerate life at all costs and will do so

About you

Why are you uniquely qualified to make use of this grant?

I have been the leader of this group since its origin. I also run my farm successfully and have founded/owned and managed three large educational projects in Asia (System’s Little House and Bangkok Prep School both in Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam) proving that not only I am a successful business operator but also a leader to summon people.

How did you come up with the project idea? Do you have domain expertise in this area?

I saw the need for women farmers to share with pairs in spite of male dominance. There were a lot of us (land owners/tenants) who had no visibility and lots to say and add to our farming world. Once the project started (at our own cost - we each pay the expenses) we saw the light: women were empowered to speak, act and solve situations of their dai

Please tell us in one or two sentences about something you achieved in the past that would be indicative of your ability to execute this project.

We got local funding for a women’s meeting in August 2023 (USD 3.000) from the Instituto Plan Agropecuario de Uruguay. We got Savory Institute’s funding for 50% of the technical fee a year (2025) for 6 members (USD 1.500)

Budget

Please provide a rough breakdown of how you plan to spend the grant money.

$7,500 for technical support 20 members/1.5 years (each member would pay 50% from her own money=$250) $1,500 for hotels for 20 meetings for 1.5 years (1 hotel night 50-70USD x20pax = $1,200 -1,500) $1,000 for gas for shared transportation on monthly visits from farm to farm/1.5yr

Links

Project website

https://www.pampeanas.com.uy

Other Links

https://www.vallesol.com.uy