A gift sweeter than chocolate
Chocolate is an obvious Christmas present, so why not do something different this year by buying farmers in Nicaragua a cocoa planting kit? We meet female farmers currently benefiting from Christian Aid’s Present Aid initiative
Published:
WHILE we here in Britain moan about the autumnal weather, in Nicaragua, many farmers would welcome a little rain.
At this time of year in South America, it’s supposed to be the rainy season, but the dusty and parched soils have barely seen a drop of water in weeks.
And as Christmas approaches, scorching temperatures brought on by climate change are forcing Nicaragua’s coffee farmers into poverty.
This year, international development charity Christian Aid is encouraging Western shoppers to use its virtual gift giving service, Present Aid, to help such communities.
Having worked closely with the farmers to introduce cocoa farming to the area, the charity is hopeful that, with the help of its Christmas donation programme, this industry will grow.
Despite the thick smell of dried coffee beans cloaking the town in Nicaragua’s “coffee capital”, Jinotega, coffee yields are in steady decline – about a sixth of what they used to be.
“Climate change is definitely hurting us,” sighs Fatima Ismael, director of Soppexcca, a collective of 18 small coffee-farming co-operatives working to improve education for farmers and diversification into new crops.
“It’s hotter now and it rains less. Water sources dry up, crops fail and this results in less food for families.”
While in some parts of the Jinotega region it’s now too hot to grow coffee, cocoa thrives in warmer climates and the harvest also coincides with coffee’s “dead” period – when crops cannot be grown.
So this year, instead of loading up your loved one with presents, why not give a virtual gift – such as a donation to a charity?
Just £47 will buy a Chocolate Starter Kit which will provide cocoa seedlings and training to farmers in countries such as Nicaragua.
After visiting Jinotega, a remote town in the north-central highlands which is considered to be one of the poorest areas of the country, it’s easy to see why change is vital.
“Now, when the coffee harvest is over, we have cocoa,” Fatima explains.
“That means more money for food and buying school materials for the children.”
Having travelled to Nicaragua to trace the route of a developing chocolate trail, I have discovered that not only are the crops changing, but so are the farmers. A group of female Nicaraguan farmers are defying gender inequality by providing a driving force for change.
Aurora Elena Blandon, 46, lives with her husband, Miguel Angel Zelaya, 48, five of their children and two grandchildren in Santa Rosa, El Cua, Jinotega. Their farm is only a short distance from the main town, but is extremely difficult to each. Our 4x4 remains stuck in a ditch for half-an-hour, requiring three men and a motorbike to haul it out. When it does eventually rain here, the roads are almost impassable.
The family lives in a simple two-room timber house on a 10-manzana plot of land (about seven hectares) 700m above sea level. A radio pumps out the local “Cumbia” music (Colombian folk and dance music) while an outdoor stone oven burns steadily from morning to night. Above the simple doorway hangs a picture of Soppexcca director Fatima Ismael, a sign of the family’s appreciation to the co-operative.
Miguel grew up on the farm but left during the civil war in the 1980s. With the help of Soppexcca, he bought back the land, although part of it now belongs to Aurora.
“I have 1
“It’s not just men who have the right to land – so do I.
“In the past, it was said women shouldn’t cultivate land. They had low self-esteem and underestimated their own abilities. Now all that has changed. I feel more confident because I know how to sow my own seeds. It’s also important that I own a plot of land for my own security.”
Thanks to gender workshops organised by the co-operative, Aurora has extended her responsibilities on the farm. And she believes cocoa could transform her family life.
Wearing a wonderfully inappropriate pair of heels, she takes me down to her cocoa plot. Mastering the terrain with ease while I struggle in a pair of walking boots, she is clearly just as at home on the land as in her kitchen.
In a country so steeped in tradition, her defiance and determination are striking. But she’s not alone. An increasing number of women now own land in Nicaragua. It’s another example of the leaps and bounds this developing country is taking. Perhaps Western leaders at the UN’s Copenhagen Climate Summit should take note.
Venicia Veronica Gomez Gutierrez, 43, lives with her husband, Tirzo Ruben Tinoco Barrerro, 50, and their nine children on eight manzanas of land. She has high hopes for cocoa in the future.
“The situation was becoming critical,” she says, referring to dwindling coffee yields.
“We couldn’t afford basic things. Now I have some hope that will change.”
Thanks to the success of early harvests, farmers are now devoting more of their land to cocoa. In countries such as St Lucia, the chocolate industry has transformed the local economy. Christian Aid and Soppexcca hope Nicaragua will follow a similar pattern.
Unsurprisingly, few locals have tasted chocolate. That’s a luxury still reserved for the developed world.
“But I’ve heard you like it a lot,” laughs Miguel, through silver-plated teeth.
I promise to bring him a few bars on my next visit. But he will have to wait until next Christmas for that present.
For more information about Present Aid, visit www.presentaid.org, or call 0845 3300 500. The deadline for Christmas gift purchases is December 15.
Readers' Comments