Growing in Harmony with Nature in Costa Rica
- Courtney Columbus
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
This year, we have been learning about the work of farmers and permaculture designers in Costa Rica who are promoting regenerative agricultural practices. Their approaches to farming align with the local environment, improve soil health, and produce healthy, locally-grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
As we continue our journey to promote sustainable agriculture and conservation, we find inspiration not only in our work across the United States but also in learning from communities beyond our borders—including the home countries of many of our team members, where their families are deeply rooted in farming traditions.
The ongoing agroforestry and regenerative agriculture efforts in Costa Rica have impressed us with their strong community ties and commitment to farming in ways that care for the land. We see many parallels with our own work in the southeastern U.S., Puerto Rico, and New Mexico.
Agroforestry in Costa Rica: ‘The Future of Our Food Systems’
Yãm Aisner, originally from Israel, is a permaculture designer based in San Mateo who designs and manages regenerative systems and has been living in Costa Rica for about 10 years. He currently has a nursery of about 15,000 trees, including native species such as the mountain almond. According to Yãm, agroforestry is one path to “the future of our food systems.” For farmers who are interested in starting agroforestry systems, Yãm encourages them and emphasizes that agroforestry is a long-term investment that will continue to bring benefits.
Coffee farmers in Costa Rica who use conventional practices have seen their yields decline, and cattle ranchers have noted concerns about soil erosion. These problems have led many farmers in Costa Rica to be open to adopting agroforestry practices, which can resemble traditional systems, Yãm explains.
“In Costa Rica, traditionally there is a lot of agroforestry…that people have been practicing here intuitively,” Yãm says. “It’s good to acknowledge that and honor that.”
In situations where landowners have already been planting many species together, his work involves providing guidance and structure to the agroforestry system.
Benefits of Agroforestry
Agroforestry systems are designed to incorporate trees, shrubs and annual crops into farming systems, leading to a variety of environmental and economic benefits. For example, the agroforestry practice of silvopasture combines trees with livestock grazing areas, creating shade for the animals and providing them with protection from the weather. Additionally, planting fruit trees in silvopasture systems provides farmers with an additional source of income.
Agroforestry provides a multitude of environmental benefits compared to conventional agriculture. Yãm outlined the following ways that agroforestry makes a positive impact on the local ecosystem:
Increases biodiversity
Protects the soil and prevents soil erosion
Increases the soil’s ability to retain water
Recharges groundwater
Provides wildlife habitat
Slows down runoff
Improves water quality
Community and Conservation
Yãm’s work also interweaves concepts of community and environmental restoration by envisioning agroforestry systems at the watershed level, anchored by a co-op and processing facility that farmers could share. He is collaborating with a group of people from the watershed to establish this project.
“It’s a hub to process all these agroforestry products into value-added products, so the whole watershed as a community can work together to regenerate the watershed,” Yãm says about this vision, adding that revenue from the sale of products would be used to continue improving the health of the watershed.
📢 We are excited about potential opportunities in Costa Rica! To recommend farmers, landowners, or partner organizations that we should connect with, contact us at info@asekia.org.
Hispanic Forest Landowner Spotlight: Plants ‘Always Look for the Light’
Tierra Viva Cantalagua in the community of Los Criques, in San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica, Jennifer (Jenni) González and her family, including her husband and her children, have spent the past six years creating a wildlife-friendly educational space full of fruits, vegetables and herbs on land inherited from her family. From vanilla and cacao to coconut and avocado, Tierra Viva overflows with plants. It’s a space where people can learn how agriculture works in harmony with nature.
Jenni is a psychologist by training and loves working with people. Her daughter Ambar and son Coatl, who have mostly grown up on farms, have been a source of great inspiration for Jenni. She practices regenerative, integral and especially biodynamic agriculture, growing produce for her family and cultivating a variety of herbs that she distills on-site. Regenerative agriculture incorporates practices that improve soil health and is designed to align with nature. Biodynamic agriculture is a holistic approach that strives for soil fertility, incorporating homeopathic preparations and observation of lunar and planetary movements.
On the nearly 3-hectare farm that is visited by wildlife from toucans to armadillos, Jenni now cultivates many different crops, including cassava, corn, sweet potatoes, and pineapple. In the nursery, she’s growing cilantro and cacao, along with native almond trees that will help to support local wildlife, especially macaws.
At Tierra Viva Cantalagua, Jenni cultivates a wide variety of crops using practices that are in tune with nature.
Growing your own food “is a challenge. While it’s very rewarding, it requires a lot of dedication,” Jenni says. “It’s best to do it as part of a group. It’s no longer necessary to go and isolate yourself in a corner deep in the jungle, in the forest, to achieve this.”
Economic sustainability is also a challenge, Jenni adds, emphasizing the importance of diversification and finding new ways to sell products.
Tierra Viva also processes medicinal plants grown at the farm into natural products for daily use, such as perfume, deodorant, insect repellent, and soap. During the past two years, more intense and frequent rainfall has caused challenges for Tierra Viva, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to harvest the medicinal plants that Jenni then distills into essential oils. Tierra Viva also makes tinctures and dehydrates the medicinal plants grown at the farm
Reconnecting with Nature
Born in the city, Jenni’s path towards reconnecting with nature hasn’t always been smooth. But now, Jenni loves her work at Tierra Viva.
“I’ve always had an inclination towards green, towards the world of plants. Towards having my hands in the dirt,” she says. "My sensibility towards green led me to integrate how healing/medicinal it is to work with the earth. Cultivating the earth is like cultivating the soul."
One of her current projects involves regenerating areas of soil that had been compacted in preparation for building houses so they can be used for garden beds instead.
“It’s wonderful to be living and truly thinking that every act and every job that is done is also to heal the land,” Jenni says. “As it is a process of awareness on the part of the farmer, or on the part of someone who works the land, it is also a healing process for oneself.”
Jenni is originally from Canada, but has a strong connection to Latin America and multigenerational family ties to agriculture. Her dad is from El Salvador, and her mom is from Costa Rica. Her grandfather was one of the early farmers in Ciudad Quesada, located in Costa Rica’s Alajuela province, where he grew coffee and, later, sugar cane.
Upcoming Community Events in Costa Rica
Are you interested in learning more about biodynamic agriculture? From Sept. 22nd to 25th, Tierra Viva Cantalagua will host the Latin American Biodynamic Agriculture Conference. For more information, contact elaabdcr2025@gmail.com or check out their Instagram.