After a devastating hurricane and the global coffee price collapse in the late 1990s, farmers in northern Nicaragua’s Jinotega province were barely scraping by. The situation was dire: 81 percent of Jinotega’s population was living in extreme poverty, struggling to get by on less than a dollar a day.

But TechnoServe recognized that farmers could better capitalize on favorable agricultural conditions in the small communities of Tomatoya and Chagüite Grande. Farmers in those areas grew cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes, but they only harvested their crops twice a year, leaving them without a source of income for much for the year. And the harvests themselves yielded little to no money.

"We sold our crops to commercial middlemen who paid whatever price they wanted,” recalls Efrén Rizo. “There were times when they paid about one cent per cabbage, and we had no other options but to sell at that price. We dressed in rags, and sometimes we did not have anything to eat. It was really a very tough situation from which we could not have escaped without TechnoServe’s help.”

TechnoServe helped the farmers establish a formal cooperative and secure capital to purchase seeds. Then our business advisors linked the cooperative with La Colonia, the leading national supermarket chain which was importing almost all of its fresh produce from neighboring countries. This was expensive, and many shipments were lost due to health or safety issues. The produce often arrived in poor condition, having spent days in transit, but it had to be sold for high prices in order to cover costs.

By 2001, La Colonia management was desperate to find an alternative source of produce in order to provide their customers with high-quality and affordable fresh produce. After the first meeting with the Tomatoya-Chagüite Grande cooperative, La Colonia placed a large order for lettuce. Impressed with the cooperative’s ability to fulfill the order, the company decided to purchase additional produce.

TechnoServe then worked with the group to ensure they continued to meet the supermarket’s standards, coaching them in how to implement safety and quality-control measures.
The farmers began using certified seeds, saving them up to 40 percent in seed costs, and new technologies such as drip irrigation, which saves fuel, water and manpower. They have also staggered their planting so they could increase their harvests from two to 24 a year.

Thanks to these improvements, the farmers’ business expanded and they were able to begin selling to a distributor to the Wal-Mart chain. In 2008, the cooperative sold $300,000 worth of goods and employed 17 people. Many of these employees are women who work in new greenhouses that also sell high-quality seedlings to other farmers, spurring a cycle of growth that will improve living conditions for many more people throughout the region.

The cooperative is now pursuing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) certification, guaranteeing that they will follow certain standards of production, processing and transportation, with a heavy emphasis on environmentally friendly practices. La Colonia, as a token of their trust and confidence in the cooperative, is funding the certification training.

The growing business is generating higher incomes for the farmers, allowing them to realize their dreams for their families. Efrén is able to provide his children with the education he never received. "I have a son who is a systems engineer, and my daughter is studying banking and finance,” he says. “I am very proud. Other farmers have also been able to put their kids through school.”