There’s no denying that the realities on the ground have changed since Tereo was created in 2004. Our change of identity, in 2023, was just the first step towards a deeper adaptation of our strategy, in response to the needs of our beneficiaries.
At theAnnual General Meeting of the Fédération genevoise de coopération (FGC ), held on April 18, 2024, Tereo’s team of volunteers had the pleasure of presenting the association’s strategic plan for the coming years. Our thinking and actions can be summed up in four points:
A triggering observation: the volatility of the tourism industry
Recent political events, as well as the Covid-19 crisis, have highlighted the instability of the tourism industry. Often developed en masse, modern tourism also has a negative impact on the preservation of local cultures and biodiversity. This realization has led us to question the long-term benefits of tourism development.
A reality: the importance of food sovereignty
The repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine on grain prices have underlined the importance of food sovereignty. In addition to guaranteeing food self-sufficiency for local populations, it preserves their know-how and culture, while playing a major role in climate protection. It was from this observation that the desire to consolidate the agricultural knowledge already existing in the beneficiary communities we work with was born.
A common thread: from field to plate
The link between our existing catering projects and our commitment to food sovereignty is obvious: agroecological educational farms. These hands-on training farms, modeled on our training hotel application projects, enable our students to learn how to grow, process and sell their own produce.
The step forward: adaptation rather than change
Tereo doesn’t reinvent itself, it adapts. Our primary mission is to provide practical training for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. By remaining true to our core values of sharing, environmental sustainability and fairness, we anchor our future agro-ecological projects in a vision of sustainable economic development for the regions in which we operate.
