On the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, Indigenous families confront extreme poverty and hunger. To combat these threats, MADRE and our longtime sister organization Wangki Tangni provide Indigenous women with the tools they need to survive, including training in organic farming and vegetable seeds. Women farmers are growing healthy foods to feed their families. And through MADRE-organized local farmers markets, women are selling surplus produce to earn much-needed income.
Three-quarters of the population on the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua suffers from malnutrition. In addition, families confront crippling poverty, extreme hunger, high unemployment, and a lack of clean water, electricity and other basic services. Meanwhile, the coast is more vulnerable than ever to climate-related disasters, with storms intensifying as sea temperatures rise, destroying the homes and harvests of families along the Coco River.
MADRE and Wangki Tangni train Indigenous women in organic farming and operate a seed bank to protect organic seeds from tropical storms and hurricanes. Women farmers cultivate, save, and share local, organic seeds from one growing season to the next and grow the food their families need to survive. Additionally, we organize local farmers markets so that women can sell surplus produce and earn much-needed income to buy necessities for their children, like shoes, clothes and school books.
Women are feeding their families with local, healthy, organic produce, grains, and animal foods that are part of the traditional diet. Women are raising happy, healthy families and are relying less on costly, imported, processed foods. What's more, women are earning income to invest in their families and communities. In the process, women are boosting their economic autonomy and sense of agency.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
