Santos Ofelia Tzoc Tax, Guatemala

In the Western Highlands of Guatemala, Santos Ofelia Tzoc Tax, a member of the Indigenous Peoples’ community of Chuipachec, is sowing seeds as an act of resilience.  

For years, her family depended entirely on the local market to buy food. However, prices kept rising and harvests became increasingly unpredictable due to climate change. Like many rural women in the area, she balanced domestic work with caring for her children, without direct access to productive resources of her own. With little to no income, she struggled to put food on the table. 

A year and a half ago, she decided to change her circumstances. With the support of We Effect and its partner organisation Asociación de Cooperación para el Desarrollo Rural de Occidente, Santos and other women in the community formed Las Sembradoras—a collective that grows tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes and cilantro inside a community macrotunnel that protects crops from heavy rains and extreme temperature variations. This enclosed structure, covered with protective plastic sheeting, creates a more stable growing environment by shielding crops from heavy rains, strong winds and sudden temperature changes. It also helps retain soil moisture and extend growing seasons, allowing the women to produce vegetables more consistently throughout the year. 

“We came together because we wanted to secure healthy food for our families and depend less on outside markets,” Santos explains. 

With access to training and climate-adapted infrastructure, the group strengthened food production. But the deepest transformation was confidence. The women organised shifts, walked long distances to tend their crops and begun saving to reinvest in seeds and supplies. 

Today, their families have year-round access to fresh, nutritious food, making them less vulnerable to climate and economic shocks. Their next goal is to sell surplus produce in local markets and generate their own income. 

In a region where women face barriers to land, credit and markets, Las Sembradoras show that when Indigenous Women gain access to tools and knowledge, they strengthen food security, community resilience and environmental sustainability. 

Santos’ vision is clear: “We want to show that when women sow, we not only grow food, we grow resilience for our entire community.”