Helping Rural Communities in Nicaragua to Flourish

Every year in late November, farmers from all 40 of the villages across Nicaragua supported by CEPAD come together for the National Forum of Farmers. Last week, the Forum took place, marking the end of the first year of CEPAD’s current five-year cycle of community development with these villages. The farmers shared with each other what they had learnt over the past year, and exchanged experiences and ideas for agricultural development. For example, the seven communities in the Boaco region that your generous donations are helping to support, trained other farmers in how to compost and how to enrich the soil. 

The CEPAD team was encouraged to see the high levels of learning and development, even after just one year, for the farmers participating. Farmers proudly brought with them some of the fruits and vegetables they had managed to produce this harvest, many of which they had not been able to farm before. A farmer from one of the Boaco communities proudly showed off his  crop of tomatoes, which was a first for him, in such a dry region where they are not normally easy to grow. He was helped by the water conservation techniques (micro-dams and water reservoirs) he had been trained in, which are already creating life-changing improvements in what farmers are able to produce.

Harold from the CEPAD team reflected, however, that comparing this year to last year, the climate in Nicaragua is getting drier and drier. The communities in Boaco are located in Nicaragua’s dry corridor, so already experience low levels of annual rainfall. But across all regions this year, the situation has been worsening, making CEPAD’s climate resilience training for these communities all the more essential. 

In addition to agricultural training, women in these communities have received entrepreneurship training from CEPAD, and grants to help their small businesses to get going. They are selling bread, second-hand clothing and even prepaid cards with phone credit, to ensure their businesses are fitting with the needs of the community. Young people have been participating in conflict management training, looking at how to address family violence, and how to support others after a crisis (e.g. landslides, or hurricanes). A particularly active group of young people in the Boaco communities has already started adapting the training and delivering it themselves to other young people – multiplying the impact of CEPAD’s transformational work. 

As the stories in our previous update reflect, CEPAD has been providing emergency relief for much of the year to families affected by the two catastrophic hurricanes that hit at the end of 2020. This included food support (since an estimated 70% of Nicaragua’s bean crop was destroyed), water purification filters, and help for  hundreds of families with zinc sheeting to repair their damaged roofs. They continue to monitor and support the communities affected, as many continue to cope with damaged homes. 

Thank you so much for your ongoing support of Amos Trust and the work of our partners in Nicaragua.