OREANDA-NEWS. July 02, 2015. A multifaceted project to help entrepreneurs turn their green ideas into sustainable businesses, better manage natural resources and provide employment opportunities for young people got a boost from a Ford Conservation and Environmental Grant.

The Project to Support Green Entrepreneurship said it would use the \\$10,000 grant to identify entrepreneurs with the potential for success, help them to develop business plans and find a market for their product and train them to share what they have learned with others.

Project sponsor Evelyn Chaves Jaun of UNAFOR Chorotega, a regional organization focused on agroforestry farming, says they will reach out primarily to women at the start. “Women here are likely to carry the economic burden of supporting their families with little or no support from men. They do this in the informal economy – baking breads, selling local foods – but only use the resources of the forest ecosystem in a very limited way.”

Agroforest and farm products can include fruits, jams, mats, oil, wines, etc.

Chaves Ja?n says the long-term goal is to help small producers around the country transform their ideas and use their resources in a sustainable manner, thereby improving the quality of life of rural families while sustaining natural resources.

The Project to Support Green Entrepreneurship is one of six groups in Panama and Costa Rica to share \\$50,000 in environmental grants last year. The grants program underlines Ford’s commitment to protecting the environment and strengthening environmental awareness, empowering communities to achieve a more sustainable future.