Canadians assist Achuapa women farmers

The Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC), with significant funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), is moving forward with a very exciting project involving "The Tienda Campesina" in Achuapa.

Here’s the plan as Gianne Broughton of CFSC has outlined it:

"This project responds to the expressed needs of the women farmers in the upland areas of the Achuapa Valley northwest of Leon, Nicaragua. The women’s families are members of the Juan Francisco Paz Silva Multisectoral Co-operative. (The Tienda). The project provides for an additional income opportunity in a way that reduces their ecological vulnerability. They will be trained to produce medicinal and aromatic plant material from plants known to thrive in their ecosystem. Equally important, preliminary markets for these products have already been identified. The project emphasizes improved marketing capacity as strongly as improved production capacity. Since woodlot and medicinal garden activities are traditional women’s roles, the concept provides an opportunity to focus on women’s participation beyond production to managing their own financial resources through their member accounts and pursuing leadership roles in the co-op."

This project builds on the organic sesame project CFSC/CIDA helped support with farmers in the Achuapa valley. That project has been very successful. ProNica’s part, through Lillian Hall’s good work, has been able to make connections, arrange transportation, help with communication, translation and reports. Gianne is coming to Nicaragua early in 2005 as this project gets underway.

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Canadians assist Achuapa women farmers

Stateside office

Nicaragua office