tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465839437156994080.post1291176899132145304..comments2017-08-08T21:36:57.420-07:00Comments on The Nicaragua Sister Partnership: LeónAlicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18270343961597916331noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465839437156994080.post-21038908115087637722010-01-14T13:13:19.538-08:002010-01-14T13:13:19.538-08:00It was great to meet you guys, and I'm enjoyin...It was great to meet you guys, and I'm enjoying reading all your posts. You are clearly getting a deep and diverse experience here in Nicaragua!<br /><br />I'd like to respond to your concern about the farmers in Del Campo being "being pushed to fill a niche market instead of growing their own food staples" and the vulnerability of putting so many resources into the production of a single crop. In this case, Del Campo being a second tier cooperative where all the decisions made are by cooperative representatives and ultimately the farmers themselves, the only force "pushing" them to put their resources into building a high tech sesame plant is the market itself. <br /><br />In fact the credit that Del Campo offers, which Maria de los Angeles explained about in the main offices, is given to the 11 cooperative members to autonomously manage. That credit is used as much to finance beans, corn, rice, and animal husbandry as for sesame. The sesame farmers of Del Campo ARE subsistence farmers. Generally all agricultural cooperative members in Nicaragua grow beans, corn, and pastures or sorghum for cattle for their family and local consumption, and set aside some land to grow a cash crop such as sesame or coffee. That is one of the main differences between products produced in cooperatives, by individual farmers who have their small diverse farms with kitchen gardens, and crops like the peanuts we saw or sugar cane, which are large agro-industrial companies which rent or purchase large tracts of land and only plant one crop. The difference between the sesame and the cattle that the same farmers are raising is that the cattle is sold to other companies who slaughter and market the beef, where as the entire chain of sesame to the point of export is controlled by the cooperatives, and ultimately the farmers who grow it. Remember Nicolas's comment about the difference the role of cooperatives play in farmers lives vs. the role that cooperatives or member organizations play in our lives as US citizens. The cooperatives also provide access for the farmers for education, health care and information about HIV/AIDS. Del Campo has chosen to organize itself around improving the processing of sesame within Nicaragua (and therefore the price they can get for it) - but that in no way discourages farmers from planting subsistance crops. <br /><br />As to the cooperative's vulnerability by relying on a corporate giant like McDonalds, last year 30% of the total sesame processed at Del Campo was sold to McDonalds Europe. Remember the oil that was being shipped to the Body Shop and L'Oreal, and the unhulled sesame that Japan imports by specific variety because of its flavor. If McDonalds was to pull out of Del Campo, it would certainly could affect some farmers but wouldn't be enough to cause the plant to collapse financially. <br /><br />Good luck on the rest of your trip, I look forward to reading your future blog posts. You are doing some really interesting things!Rachel Lindsayhttp://www.sustainablenicafarming.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com