In order to improve the income of 20,000 rural smallholder producers through increased production and marketing,... TechnoServe is implementing Ganadería Empresarial (GANE), a Nicaraguan livestock initiative. GANE will address the livestock industry’s key barriers and constraints by improving the capacity of smallholder producers to increase quality production and the industry’s overall ability to meet stricter international food safety standards, positioning Nicaragua’s livestock industry to compete on a global scale. This long-term project will impact families in the departments of Jinotega, Madriz, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Chinandega, Region Autónoma del Atlántico Norte and Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur.

In August 2012, TechnoServe Nicaragua launched Impulsa Tu Empresa, a business accelerator program that will support the... growth of 210 existing businesses and business ideas, helping to increase incomes and generate jobs. By facilitating access to finance, promoting market access, developing business plans and providing mentoring for high-potential small and growing businesses, TechnoServe aims to promote local economic growth in communities across Nicaragua.

TechnoServe is implementing a two-year initiative that targets women in women’s business groups (WBGs) who are... currently working in value addition or commercialization. The program combines one-on-one business consulting with linkage to finance, markets and technical expertise to provide the women with the skills, assets and social capital they need to reach their full potential as economic actors and leaders. WGBs also participate in financial literacy and leadership training, team-building exercises and network building. The approach is expected to improve the participants’ economic success, social position and household bargaining power. To date, 903 women have participated in the trainings, and the program has helped 25 WBGs generate more than $196,000 in incremental revenue.

TechnoServe helped 1,700 farmer across 15 cooperatives in Nicaragua’s poorest regions improve the quality of their... products and diversify into more profitable crops (notably quequisque, malanga, plantain and other vegetables). Through ACORDAR, TechnoServe advisors provided training in improved production techniques, introduced value-added processing and connected producers with lucrative markets. Several of the cooperatives are selling into major national supermarket chains, such as La Colonia and Walmart Nicaragua. The five-year program, which ended in 2012, helped farmers generate more than $34 million in sales and hundreds of new jobs.

Coffee is one of Nicaragua's largest industries, with tens of thousands of small-scale producers. TechnoServe... implemented a two-year specialty coffee program serving more than 200 producers in the northern part of the country. Participating coffee farmers improved production quality, streamlined administrative operations, received direct market linkages to international buyers and increased their incomes by nearly $2 million.

In 2010, TechnoServe Nicaragua implemented a periodic national business plan competition called Idea tu Empresa to help... aspiring entrepreneurs turn good ideas into thriving businesses. The program has helped more than 150 businesses to launch or expand, creating more than 1200 jobs. In addition to receiving training and mentoring, participants forged new business relationships, securing additional financial support from various private sector organizations.