Photo Journal: Visit to “Bridges” Livelihood Diversification Project Sites Coffeelands of San Juan del Río Coco, Madriz, NicaraguaAugust 27 and 28, 2013Hugh Aprile – Catholic Relief Services

Melvin Sánchez and Amada RosaMelvin Sánchez Molina, with his mother, Amada Rosa, on their coffee farm in Telpaneca, Madriz. Melvin and his family have begun diversfying into honey and plantain production, as well as increasing and improving their bean and maize production for household consumption.

Hamilton González Ramos

Hamilton looking over his new sweet potato garden rows. Hamilton and his family are now experimenting with new crops such as passion fruit, cucumber, and sweet potato as seen above. San José del Ojoche, Madriz.

Santos Anastacio AlfaroSantos is planting sweet potato for the first time. He is impressed with the variety that was chosen by project technical staff, by how quickly it is growing and by the size of the tubers. “La roya is going to hit us hard this year,” Santos explained to me- “the potatoes are a welcome addition to our family diet.” San José del Ojoche, Madriz.

La Roya. Santos Alfaro’s farm.

La roya, or coffee rust , is a fungus that leads to widespread devastation among infected coffee plants. The roya plague has affected 85% of the coffee in San Juan del Rio Coco and 70% of the coffee in neighboring Quilali, the highest infection rates in Nicaragua. The average coffee area for producers in this region is 1.9 manzanas, 80% of which are certified organic. “Bridges” project baseline data, however, indicates that for the smallest producers, the effects will be even greater because the majority of these farmers are also coffee pickers.

Levis Balladares Fortín

Levis , left, with his sons Moisés, Arón, Jack, and brother Asdrubal (in green), runs an impressive operation on his small but highly productive 6 manzana (4.2 ha.) coffee farm. According to Levis, he has planted over a thousand shade trees on his land and has managed to keep la roya from damaging his coffee plants through the application of good farm management practices. After receiving training on honey production and ten new hives, Levis has his sights on honey as a viable source of complementary family income. He now has 18 hives and plans on doubling this number in 2014, and again in 2015. Las Brisas, Madriz.

Maritza ColíndresDoña Maritza is a leader within the 22 de Mayo coffee cooperative, which belongs to PRODECOOP. She was the driving force behind the creation of the “Faith and Hope” savings group, which then inspired the creation of a second group. To date, 41 of the 53 members of the 22 de Mayo cooperative belong to one of the two savings groups, which have saved $1,080 in less than 1.5 years. The Faith and Hope group now also runs a popular pulpería, or convenience store. Both groups have plans for additional communal enterprises in the future.