Help 5 Farmers in Nicaragua Produce 20,000 Meals

Thank you to each of you who made generous contributions that will ensure that Javier, Mario, Joel, Domingo & Vicente are all able to afford the inputs they need to plant Quality Protein Maize (QPM) this season!

As you may have read in the project proposal, the supply of QPM in all of Nicaragua was depleted in 2014.  This nutritious corn is a good source of protein for rural farm families who cannot afford animal-source protein in their daily diets.  So last year, we imported new QPM seed from Mexico and now, thanks to you, Javier, Mario, Joel, Domingo & Vicente in Ochomogo, Nicaragua have all planted registered QPM seed to re-establish the supply in the country!

Thanks to your support, we were able to travel to Ochomogo to train each of these five farmers has in improved agronomic practices so that they can increase their yields this season.

Thanks to you, they have received an in-kind loan in the form of QPM seed and inputs such as fertilizer, insecticide and herbicide so that they can put that knowledge into action by planting on time with the rains and applying the right inputs at the right time – rather than delayed due to insufficient financing. 

After the corn is harvested in September, it will be sold to other members of the Ochomogo Seed Bank who will plant in October or November in order to further multiply the seed available for consumption. Thanks to your support today, by that second harvest early next year, there will be sufficient corn to provide more than 20,000 high protein meals to improve nutrition among Nicaraguan families. 

Already, the farmers have several pending orders for the commercial QPM from area nutrition programs.  It is a great hope of mine – and of several board members – that now that we are re-establishing the supply of QPM in the country, we’ll be able to start up the nutrition programs in the area again, which were discontinued in 2012.

With their increased income from the sale of this harvest, the farmers will be able to invest profits both into their families, and into grain bins (pictured above) which will help them reduce post-harvest loss. 

I’m including photos of the day that the seed and inputs were distributed.  Thank you for your generous support, which is helping Nicaraguan farm families achieve greater food security not only for their own families, but for hundreds more families throughout the countryside!

--

As we look toward the next planting season, we know that many more farmers will be requesting input loans, so while the 5 farmers who recieved loans this season will repay the loans, there will be more than 5 more farmers requesting funding.  If you would like to be a part of this ongoing initiative, please consider making a contribution to the Fred Strohbehn Training Center in Nicaragua.  You'll recieve quarterly updates about the farmers you're supporting and how that education and access to financing is improving the lives of dozens of farm families.

Links:

• Learn more about QPM Seed Production
• Want to do more? Learn how we're helping farmers in Ghana
• Watch a video about how QPM porridge alleviates malnutrition