Rodrigo Rodríguez
SHI-Panama Country Director

What’s the driving force behind Sustainable Harvest International’s success? Talented program staff and exceptional local leadership.

In SHI’s 25th year, we have 26 program staff working to transform food systems across the countries of Belize, Honduras, and Panama. These country programs are led by Leonardo Pech in Belize, Zoila Reyes in Honduras, and Rodrigo Rodríguez in Panama.

Not only is Rodrigo Rodríguez one of SHI’s longest-serving staff members, he’s been at the helm of the SHI-Panama program for more than decade. In fact, he’s been serving as Panama’s country director for more than half of SHI’s existence – fourteen years to be exact. We cannot celebrate who we are today as an organization without acknowledging the work and leadership of staff members like Rodrigo.

Since completing his degree at the Institute for Agricultural Studies of Havana (ISCAH) in Cuba, Rodrigo has dedicated his entire life to community development and agriculture. He’s been a tireless advocate for regenerative agriculture and for SHI’s partnering families, as well as a trusted leader who listens, collaborates, and acts with deep intentionality.

A Fish in Water

“I’m paid to do what I love to do,” says Rodrigo. He describes his personal values as an extension of the organization’s values and mission. There’s a synergy there, Rodrigo relates. “I feel like I’m a fish in water.”

Since a very young age, he’s always been concerned with issues of poverty. Later on, he began to understand and appreciate the linkages between environmental degradation and poverty.

“Conventional agriculture and its excessive use of agrochemicals is really dangerous,” notes Rodrigo. “What [these groups] argue is that they need to produce more food to satisfy world demand but, meanwhile, they’re poisoning the planet and many of its resources.”

Rodrigo remains deeply concerned about the profit-motives behind a global food system that degrades our Earth’s precious natural resources without adequate thought to good stewardship.

What will we leave to future generations? That’s the question that inspires Rodrigo to keep going. 

Rodrigo believes that SHI is addressing each and every one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), either directly or indirectly. Day in and day out, he’s glad to be contributing to a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.”

“I think it’s important that every donor is fully secure in the knowledge that the investment they make here really makes a difference,” Rodrigo emphasizes. 

After fourteen years of working with SHI, he has a lot to be proud of.  He’s always pushed himself to learn new things and make connections, with the goal of increasing and enhancing the impact of SHI’s work. 

In particular, Rodrigo is immensely proud of how SHI-Panama has prioritized partnerships over the years. Today, SHI-Panama has active partnerships with organizations like the Peace Corps, Engineers without Borders, Global Brigades, the Technological University of Panama, and the Organic Agriculture Association of Panama. 

And in the last couple of years, Rodrigo has ventured into an entirely new world of connection – social media. In 2018, Rodrigo was inspired to pick up his phone, download Instagram, and share the program’s impact with others, both near and far. He religiously posts beautiful photos and detailed captions. It’s a work of love and its own source of inspiration. Daily, his posts elicit words of encouragement from people across the globe. 

Rodrigo has wisely fostered a culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration whenever and wherever possible. After all, he has always understood that we simply cannot achieve our environmental and humanitarian goals alone. Our success as a planet depends on our ability to work in partnership and in harmony with a growing network of friends around the world.

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