- Photo credit: Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times
Seattle-based Landesa, one of organizations that makes up the GAAP Portfolio, was recently featured in a two-part series in the Seattle Times entitled "Seeds of Hope".
The first part of the series focuses on Landesa's work with landless families, particularly in India. The granting of micro-plots to landless families has proved successful in lifting families out of poverty, contributing to household food security, and freeing up household income usually spent on food to be spent on other purchases, like education. A pilot girls empowerment project works through girl's groups to educate girls in how to grow food for their families; the hope is that endowing the girls with this kind of useful knowledge will make families reconsider marrying the girls off at a young age, allowing them to complete their educations and break out of the cycle of poverty.
The second part of the series focuses on Landesa's founder, Roy Prosterman, a University of Washington law professor.
The series also includes a beautiful Photo Essay, which displays photos from West Bengal, where Landesa's "Security of Girls Through Land" project operates.