On her return from Nicaragua, our colleague Estel Malgosa explains how the project to strengthen the capacities of women and young people and to promote their empowerment is going. This project started at the end of 2016 and is being carried out by AlterNativa3 with the support of the Terrassa City Council.
Context of the Guapotal Region
The Guapotal region is a mountainous area made up of small communities. It is the area where the Augusto César Sandino Fair Trade Cooperative (COMULACS). Families in the region make their living from agriculture and, for the most part, from growing coffee, a product that is harvested once a year. Nicaragua's rural communities have social and traditional dynamics that are marked by the seasonal nature of the coffee economy and by the presence of strong gender inequalities, which they all refer to as "gender inequalities". macho culture.
Situation of Women
Women are in a more vulnerable position than men: the man is the head of the household and usually makes the decisions that affect the whole family. Women tend to work at home and, at harvest time, both at home and in the fields. Even so, rural women do not have economic independence, which makes them more subject to men's decisions.. In addition, the same gender inequalities mean that many young men do not take responsibility for their children, leaving this responsibility to the mother and her family, which represents an additional burden on the family unit.
Situation of Young People
Young people are another vulnerable group, as a large part of them do not continue their studies due to the difficulties of access, economics and opportunities. Without studies, their life projects are to work in the countryside (if they do not have their own land, they have to work in the fields). macheteros on landowners' farms, a very hard and poorly paid job) or migrate to the cities in search of better living conditions (especially in neighbouring countries such as Costa Rica).
Origin of the Gender Equity Project
In this context, the assembly of the COMULACS cooperative in 2015 saw the need to carry out a project to strengthen the capacities of both groups and to promote their empowerment.
The project consists of a series of activities with the same groups, in total 3 groups according to the communities. Training is offered through participatory methodologies on gender equality, self-esteem, leadership and decision-making. In addition, a social diagnosis is being carried out with the participation of all beneficiaries.
This diagnosis has a double function: on the one hand, the beneficiaries become researchers (they reflect on their social reality, what the main problems are and how they can be solved...) and on the other hand, it is a process that allows them to become empowered, i.e. to gain confidence, self-esteem and to be aware that they can improve their situation. AlterNativa3 has been able to attend some of these activities.
Among the problems detected in the participatory diagnosis is the economic dependence of women and young people. They want to grow, roast and sell Fairtrade coffee and coffee from small producers in their own communities and the surrounding villages.
Quality coffee leaves Nicaragua through exports. The coffee that the producers keep is the coffee that they cannot sell because of its poor quality. The only coffee that is sold to the shops in the towns and cities of the department is that of the big landowners, but not of small producers who guarantee the human rights of peasants, no child labour, care for the environment and promote gender equality.
This project is carried out by AlterNativa3 with the support of Terrassa City Council.
If you want to know more about our project visit us at AlterNative3.
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