Food sovereignty and community resilience in San Juan, Costa Rica

Who we are

Tierra Valiente is a regenerative farm, mutual-aid network, and living place of practice for cultivating life-affirming futures rooted in relationship, responsibility, and care for the living Earth. Our Center for Applied Cultural Transition offers space for unlearning and learning at the intersection of the political, spiritual, and ecological. Through the Center we host approximately 25 groups and 1,000 people per year, immersing guests in the lived experience of regeneration.

Our Ecosystem

We are located in San Juan, Alajuela, within the Arenal region of northwestern Costa Rica, in the ancestral territory of the Maleku peoples. We steward 88 acres in the humid tropical rainforest, where towering ceibas rise above a tapestry of plants, vibrant bird species, howler monkeys and sloths. We rest along the banks of the Chachagua River, whose flowing waters, together with fertile volcanic soils and rich biodiversity, sustain a living landscape where community-led stewardship meets the rhythms of land, river, and forest.

The Problem

The context we are working within is urgent. According to the UN FAO, Costa Rica ranks first globally in pesticide use per hectare, using up to eight times more than other Latin American OECD members, averaging 34 kilograms per hectare. Around 90% of these are classified as Highly Hazardous Pesticides, linked to rising rates of cancer, kidney failure, and contamination of rivers and soils. The dominant agricultural model in Costa Rica is chemical-intensive monoculture: bananas, pineapples, and coffee grown at industrial scale, a pattern local smallholder farmers have followed for generations because no visible alternative has existed.

What is the inspiration?

Seeing is believing. A thriving, chemical-free, community-supported farm in the heart of Costa Rica's rural campesino region can shift what local farmers, families, and future stewards believe is possible. Where conventional agriculture depletes, we demonstrate that land can be restored, communities fed, and ecosystems regenerated, all at once.

Who is involved?

Tierra Valiente was founded in 2016 and is a community-run farm and center. Dennis leads farming operations and Pao leads our mutual-aid and community network, Micelia. Together we form a core team rooted in place, sustained by deep relationships with the community of San Juan and the growing network of local farmers, families, and learners we work alongside.

What have we achieved so far?

Since the previous funding round, we have used the funds raised to expand our agricultural commons, establishing a syntropic annual crops on 1200 square meters where we are now growing plantain, cassava, sweet potato, taro, and pigeon pea. Additionally, we were able to bring on Pao as a dedicated community organizer for our mutual-aid network.

The impact of this has extended well beyond the farm boundary. Our mutual-aid network, Micelia, has been quietly weaving the relational and ecological fabric that makes a community farm possible. In 2025 alone:

• Tierra Valiente's composting systems were showcased to representatives of the Peñas Blancas district and the National Technical University, demonstrating how organic waste can become a soil resource rather than landfill. This directly shaped the district's official five-year Integrated Solid Waste Plan, a concrete example of our demonstration site model creating policy-level change.
• Through our Women's Circle, we hosted fermentation and nutrition workshops reconnecting community women with ancestral foodways and pesticide-free growing practices. Seed sharing, cooking workshops, and food barter systems have begun to build the foundations of a local food sovereignty culture.
• We laid the physical foundations of a community native species nursery, built through volunteer workdays with local partners, which will supply plants for the Chachagua River riparian regeneration project and eventually support the farm's agroforestry expansion.
• A native bee (mariolas) project launched with students from the Rural High School, including hands-on hive construction and field visits to learn about pollination and ecosystem health, directly connecting the next generation to the living systems that make regenerative farming possible.

Together, these threads connect a farm growing food and a community growing the conditions for food sovereignty, ecological literacy, and collective resilience.

What activities will we undertake this round?

This round of funding will go towards:

• Expanding our syntropic food forest another 580 square meter plot with multi species of banana to create a seed bank alongside sweet potato, ginger, eggplant, chili, beans and passion fruit.
• Hosting farm visits, workshops, and hands-on training in syntropic and regenerative design, composting, seed saving, and natural pest management for youth, local farmers, guests, and community members.
• Laying the groundwork for a community CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program with the town of San Juan, where households volunteer at the farm in exchange for a share of the harvest.

How will we achieve this?

By making regenerative farming tangible, participatory, and locally rooted. Our demonstration site is open to neighbors, farmers, and learners as a place they can walk through, work in, and take ideas home from. By practicing strict no-till, no-spray agriculture, we let the land tell the story, visibly improving season by season in ways no lecture could replicate.

Micelia, our mutual aid network, will run programs through the local school and community events to connect people to the farm. The Center for Applied Cultural Transitions will host farm tours and hands-in-the-soil days, ensuring that every group that passes through leaves with inspiration and practical knowledge they can carry home. Together, these threads weave a model that is practiced on our land and shared across our bioregion.