Forging links for 5k farmers in Peru & Nicaragua

At MEDA, we believe in using proven business solutions to overcome poverty. With your support, we are able to carry out this important work and also follow-up with our clients to ensure their success sustains beyond the project.

Thanks to your generous gift, rural farmers are forging links to gain better access to farming supplies and technology, enabling them to increase yields and income opportunities – the makings of sustainable future for their family.

Sarah French, a MEDA impact assessment intern in Nicaragua, met with Techno-Links clients and business partners at the end of her internship to learn how MEDA’s work is positively affecting their communities and what can be done to improve the project in the future. Read below to see how your donation is changing lives…

Sarah’s Update from the Field: Coming together for the first and last time

The Techno-Links Project has manifested a connection between private businesses and small rural farmers within a time span of just three years to encourage sustainable agricultural development.

I had previously met the private businesses and farmers individually when I conducted interviews with them on behalf of MEDA. However, the dynamics of the Techno-Links project meeting in March were astounding because all ten Nicaraguan private companies came together for the first time to share their ideas.

The goal of the two-day meeting was to express the positive effects and outcomes, as well as suggest improvements for the Techno-Links project. I presented my findings from a Case Study I conducted in November on one of our partners, The International School of Agriculture and Livestock, and discussed outcomes of farmers from the agricultural business partners. This helped to launch the dialogue for the day on the strengths of the project and also what needs to be improved.

Afterwards, an activity to explore these impacts further proved extremely useful. A large brown sheet of paper was taped to the front wall with the headings: Design, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Impact, and Sustainability. Crosscutting these were subtitles that read: Successes, Potential, Setbacks, and Barriers. Companies were divided into groups to work together and each group recorded their ideas, likes and concerns of the project, fitting them into the appropriate categories. Each idea was expressed as a group and each was described in detail with a conversation to follow

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Bringing together key stakeholders to share the impacts of the Techno-Links project is one example of the collaborative process involved across many MEDA projects. It helps to ensure we are taking the right approach to our economic development work and that our clients always remain at the focus of what we do.

We hope Sarah’s reflection on the recent activities of the Techno-Links project shows another way your generous donation is unleashing entrepreneurship and creating better livelihoods for rural farmers and their families. From all of us at MEDA, thank you making this work possible!