Certain farm communities face crises like climate change and volatile markets far better than others. Knowing 'why' will help some of the poorest farming communities in the world better prepare for inevitable environmental and economic shocks. We ask for your support to bring farmers this understanding of resilience in a coffee-growing region in Nicaragua.
We cannot manage something if we cannot measure it. We know that understanding what makes a farmer and a rural community resilient is critical in order to improve their livelihoods and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We saw how a severe epidemic related to climate change (coffee leaf rust) wiped out almost half of the income for 97% of the small farmers we surveyed in Guatemala. We found that some farmers coped better and had fewer losses than others. What made them more resilient?
Until recently, there was no easy way to get credible information on farmer resilience that can be used at a local and a global level. We now have better tools to measure resilience and quickly and cost-effectively get farmer-centric data. Getting these tools into wider use will generate the critical knowledge and support that farming families need. We also want to ensure that the farmers have full access to this knowledge to continuously empower their resilience.
Resilience is a key factor to address today's pressing social, economic and environmental issues, including poverty, inequality, and climate change. Critical insights help governments, NGOs, and others better target their efforts to improve resilience and sustainability in rural communities. Coffee farmers in Nicaragua - like those we surveyed in Guatemala - will be better prepared for their inevitable challenges.
