The Cerrito Agricultural School hosted the awards to over 40 families in the area, participants of the family & community vegetable garden Contest, within the framework of the Cerrito Stoplight Initiative. Through the implementation of family gardens for self-consumption and income, more than 200 rural families from the Lower Chaco were benefited; thus, improving their situation in terms of nutritious food, developing capacities to generate income, and enhancing the entrepreneurial spirit.

The program grew on relevance due to the current health crisis that has challenged many families to reinvent themselves and become aware of their needs, value the resources available in the environment and use them in a way to improve their family and community situation. The first stage of the vegetable gardens generated savings of between PYG 800,000 and 1,200,000 to the participating families.

The purpose of the Contest was to make visible the empowerment of families that stand out for their organic horticultural production; in sum, 100 of them have been the winners of the first stage and were rewarded with inputs for the care of their gardens. Of the winners, 29 families and 11 organizations, among them, neighborhood commissions and producer committees have moved to the second stage, standing out in 3 categories: best horticultural production, teamwork and creativity in the installation of vegetable gardens; they were awarded 40 garden toolkits, consisting of wheelbarrows, rakes, hoes, shovels, hoses, also compost bins, t-shirts and identification labels for the winning organizations.

In addition, another 21 families received scholarships to participate in a training cycle on various topics, such as marketing virtual agricultural products, bio-preparations, food preservation, food dehydration and the making of sauces, preserves and jams.

Martín Burt, CEO of the Fundación Paraguaya, attended to reward the outstanding families of the vegetable garden program, which seeks to be replicated in all the communities of the country. A project is currently underway with the Municipal Board of Asunción.