About Us
Founded in October 2017, originally as the Utuado Mutual Support Center, our organization emerged in response to the socio-environmental crisis caused by Hurricane Maria in Utuado, Puerto Rico. At that time, we were dedicated to supporting small-scale farmers and rural communities through work brigades, supply distribution, and educational workshops. In 2022, we underwent a regional and collective transition that led us to rearticulate our approach and reorganize as the Colectiva Agroecológica de Masificación y Unidad (CAMU).
Our collective is comprised of a diverse group of rural and urban agroecological farmers, educators, community organizers, academics, and food sovereignty activists, with a primary presence and operational focus in the western and southern regions of Puerto Rico. We share a commitment to agroecological and political work, aimed at strengthening food sovereignty, the organizational social fabric, and the struggle for land rights in Puerto Rico.
Meet the Collective
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Jesef Reyes Morales
Co-founder of CAMU, agroecologist, community organizer, and researcher. Jesef is a doctoral candidate in Agroecology at ECOSUR (Chiapas, Mexico), with experience in popular education and community organizing focused on food sovereignty, territorial defense, and socio-environmental justice.
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Gema Adrover
An agroecological farmer with over 15 years of experience through her initiative, the Guayabacherry Project. Gema is a guardian and advocate for the conservation of native seeds, land rights struggles, gender justice, and grassroots and peasant feminism.
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Paul Dill
A co-founding member of CAMU, an agroecological farmer with over 20 years of experience, an educator, and a political organizer. He received political training at the MST’s Florestan Fernandes National School (ENFF) in Brazil. Drawing on his experience, Paul helps coordinate educational activities focused on political agroecology and organizational methodologies.
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Gloria Cordero
She is a co-founder of CAMU, a schoolteacher, and grows vegetables in her home garden. She supports CAMU as a community liaison, spokesperson, and representative in national and multisectoral organizational forums.
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Natalia Hernández
She practices urban farming on her family’s plot of land and runs her community education project, Soy Pura Madre, through which she and her mother share their knowledge of traditional embroidery and weaving techniques with the community. Natalia also helps organize and lead workshops and outreach groups at CAMU.
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Yira Rodríguez
An urban agroecological farmer and community organizer at Huerto Urbano Callejón Trujillo. Yira helps coordinate educational activities and contributes to the development of regional organizational networks. She has also received training in agroecology and politics at the MST’s ENFF school in Brazil.
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Ricardo Coronado
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Clara Rivera