Community Compost & Regenerative Agriculture in Toledo, Belize

Project Title: Community Compost & Regenerative Agriculture in Toledo, Belize

Categories: Agriculture, Technology, Education

Project Story

Davis & Daughter Farms builds regenerative closed-loop agricultural systems that connect people with the soil beneath them, creating conditions for farmers, families, and ecosystems to thrive. Money raised in this campaign will go directly to building the first community-scale aerated static pile (ASP) compost facility in southern Belize, turning invasive sargassum and agricultural waste into free compost for smallholder farmers while restoring soil health across Toledo District.

Our Mission

We believe in the power of soil to save us. We start with simple regenerative actions that invest in the health of farmers, the community, and the land. We are experienced in farmer training, cooperative building, and composting infrastructure. This project expands our reach from a single research farm to a district-wide model. The goal is to provide free, high-quality compost to smallholder farmers, eliminate dependency on synthetic chemicals, end the destructive practice of topsoil stripping, and create a replicable system for the Global South.

Background & Problem Statement

Toledo District is the poorest in Belize, with 50% of the population living in poverty. Compared to the national average of 16%. It is also the heart of indigenous agriculture, home to Maya, Creole, and Garifuna farming communities. The region is lush rainforest and coastal mangroves, dotted with small villages reachable only by dirt roads. But the beauty hides a slow collapse: streams run brown with silt from stripped hillsides, and the air during the dry season smells of smoke from uncontrolled fires. In 2024, those fires destroyed over 108,000 acres of forest and farmland, which is over 10% of the entire District. In 2025, the government declared a national emergency due to record sargassum influxes.

Smallholder farmers here face collapsing soil fertility. With no access to compost, they strip ancient topsoil (which takes 1,000 years to form naturally) or buy expensive, dangerous synthetic chemicals that poison their families and trap them in debt. A farmer's wife develops chronic headaches after spraying. A father skips meals to afford a bag of chemical fertilizer. Children leave for tourism jobs because the farm cannot support them. Farmer suicides are rising. Young people leave for tourism jobs. The land is dying.

Picture: San Pedro Columbia Village, Toledo fire damage in June 2024

Solution

Our solution directly addresses every problem described above.

The stripped hillsides and eroded streams? We eliminate the need to strip topsoil entirely. Every cubic yard of compost we produce replaces topsoil that would have been mined from someone's land. Farmers who receive our compost stop stripping. The silt in the streams begins to clear.

The toxic chemicals poisoning families? Our compost and Korean Natural Farming training give farmers a zero-cost, zero-toxin alternative. That father no longer skips meals for chemical fertilizer. That wife no longer suffers headaches from pesticide spray. Their children grow food, not poison.

The fires and smoke? Compost builds soil organic matter, which retains water. Healthier, wetter soils are less fire-prone. Farmers using our compost and practices will lose less land to fires. We are building resilience from the ground down.

The sargassum emergency? We turn the crisis into compost. What the government calls a national disaster, we call feedstock. We harvest the seaweed, process it, and transform it into soil-building gold.

The farmer suicides and youth leaving? When farmers save $200−$400 per year on chemicals and increase yields by 20-40%, they can afford to stay. Their children see a future in farming. The cooperative gives them dignity, community, and hope.

Our solution is an integrated, three-part system. First, a 21-acre agroforestry research farm that serves as a demonstration site where farmers see proof before adopting practices. Second, a community-scale ASP compost facility that turns invasive sargassum, rice hulls, and sugarcane waste into finished compost in 60-90 days with no manual turning. Third, a farmer-led cooperative and NGO, the Toledo Regenerative Agriculture Association, which trains farmers in Korean Natural Farming and distributes compost at no cost.

This is not three projects. It is one closed-loop system. Waste becomes compost. Compost builds soil. Soil grows food. The cooperative trains farmers. The cycle repeats. And every problem we named begins to heal.

Opportunity

Toledo has no reliable source of finished compost. We are building the first. Our ASP technology is solar-powered, energy-efficient, and scalable. Once proven, this model can be replicated across every village in Toledo and beyond. The sargassum crisis is not just a disaster—it is a feedstock opportunity. The government has declared an emergency and allocated response funds. We are positioned to turn that crisis into regeneration.

Picture: Compost produced via an ASP system in Atlanta, GA

How We Regenerate

We engage in holistic soil regeneration through composting, carbon sequestration, and elimination of synthetic chemicals. We center indigenous farming knowledge and farmer-led cooperative governance. We train women and youth as leaders. We restore degraded farmland, protect the Mesoamerican Reef by reducing chemical runoff, and build climate resilience through healthier soils that hold more water, microbes, and nutrients.

Tracking Impact

We will track compost production logs (cubic yards produced and distributed), soil health tests (organic matter, microbial activity before and after compost application), farmer income and input cost surveys, workshop attendance (minimum 50% women and youth), and sargassum volume removed from coastlines. We will also collect farmer testimonials and qualitative data on how families experience the change. Because this project is locally led and community-based, we measure not just ecological impact but human flourishing.

Our Experience

Walter Davis III is a US Composting Council trained Master Composter, University of Georgia Certified Journeyman Farmer, Produce Safety Alliance Certified Grower, and University of Missouri Agroforestry Training Academy graduate. He co-managed the only community-scale composting operation in Atlanta, GA before relocating permanently to Belize in 2025. He is a fellow of the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship and a member of the Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network.

He founded Davis & Daughter Farms from an after-school gardening club, scaling it to a commercial operation with no outside funding while employing two of his four daughters. He has secured 21 acres of agroforestry land in Forest Home, Belize, formed a farmer cooperative with Maya and Creole farmers, and developed a $191,500 budget and construction plan for the compost facility. He has led community farm visits, trained farmers in small scale composing, and built partnerships with the Toledo Cacao Growers Association and BYRISE.

Picture: Farmers time banking at Davis & Daughter Farms