Nicaragua

TechnoServe is working to increase revenues for 5,000 fresh produce smallholder farmers in Guatemala and Nicaragua by integrating the farmers into a more inclusive and profitable market system.

The MOCCA Program is a five-year initiative, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress Program, aimed at helping more than 100,000 farmers to overcome the barriers limiting their capacity to effectively rehabilitate and renovate their coffee and cacao plants.

Idalia Medina grew up with the heart of an entrepreneur. As an adult, she merged her love for farming with business and started processing and exporting cheese. But, with no formal business training, Idalia was overwhelmed. Using the skills she gained from TechnoServe’s training, she transformed her enterprise and grew sales by nearly 20%, also allowing her to invest in the long-term success of her employees.

Through the ResCA program, cattle ranchers in Nicaragua are learning techniques to improve resilience to climate threats.

ITE 2.0 will assist 825 businesses in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The three year program is expected to increase sales by more than 30%, equivalent to $41 million, and create more than 800 new jobs in different economic sectors.

TechnoServe promoted a new culture of collaboration and learning across the coffee sector, from testing and evaluating new techniques in rural communities to engaging government and private stakeholders to share data, strengthening the industry as a whole.

In an article for the World Economic Forum, TechnoServe's Program Director for Central America Entrepreneurship discusses ways to engage entrepreneurs in practices that not only benefit women workeres and suppliers, but help solve some of the most common issues facing small and medium businesses.

Olga Velasquez is TechnoServe’s Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for the Better Coffee Harvests Program in Central America. For International Women’s Day, we talked with her about her experience as a woman at TechnoServe, and why good data is important for creating stronger, more gender-inclusive coffee economies.

 The IMPULSOR project is increasing productivity and competitiveness of Sorghum farms in Nicaragua, educating the participating farmers in agricultural and business best practices.