Pedro Fians, agricultural technician and cheesemaking trainer, drives a truck to municipal grazing land.
David A. Taylor https://ssir.org/articles/entry/portugal-migrants-fire-mitigation
Media Source: Standard Social Innovation Review (USA)
Date: 15 July 2026
The rural Portuguese city of Fundão has turned population decline and wildfire risk into an opportunity by welcoming migrants to help farm abandoned land and reduce fire fuel. The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has played a central role: earlier AKF programmes gave migrant families access to early-childhood education and health…
The rural Portuguese city of Fundão has turned population decline and wildfire risk into an opportunity by welcoming migrants to help farm abandoned land and reduce fire fuel. The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has played a central role: earlier AKF programmes gave migrant families access to early-childhood education and health services, and AKF partnered with Fundão on "Cheesemaker 4.0," a training programme reviving local shepherding traditions with modern range-management skills, aimed at migrants and recent graduates. AKF's Sara Otero called Fundão's approach "a model for national and international responses to climate change."