Written by Justin Trezza, Field Program Director

The rural Nicaraguan communities of Las Breñas and San Sebastian are not easy to access. My recent journey from the SHI-Nicaragua office took nearly six hours and, in transit, everything I passed was either enchanting or disheartening – mangroves, swamps, tropical low-land forests, pastures, the ruins of what was once nature now slashed and burned. As the path took me deeper and deeper into human-induced destruction, ignorance and lack of knowledge, I grew more and more disappointed until, that is, I would arrive at an SHI participant farm, such as Don Esteban’s, Don Santos’ or Don Candido's. In the past, these farmers raised cattle, deforested vast tracts of land and ignored the need to diversify, but now they are changing as they learn from SHI Field Trainer, Don Cipriano, using his farm as an example.

NEW KNOWLEDGE
Don Cipriano once was like them, a migrant arriving in a virgin land with a vision for a prosperous future, but lacking understanding of his immediate surroundings and soil. In 2010, he graduated from SHI's five-phase program and is now sharing all he learned. Instead of "telling" or "dictating," SHI Field Trainers like Don Cipriano educate and facilitate.

With new knowledge, SHI farmers diversify, integrate, modify and build thriving agricultural systems. Farmers are learning to think before acting, such as analyzing the environment and selecting trees before razing the land for pasture use. Little by little, Don Esteban is converting what was once destitute pasture into a rich agrosilvopastoral system that includes hardwoods like almendro (Dipteryx panamensis), santa maria (Callophylum brasilensis), cedro macho (crabwood) and mahogany; fruit species like tangerine, mamey sapote, and limes; and forage crops like mother of cacao, pigeon pea and more.  

NEW ATTITUDES
More than changing income, SHI is changing attitudes. This was obvious when I spoke to farmers like Don Candido of San Sebastian and Don Santos Urbina of Las Breñas.  Both farmers have been with SHI for a few years and are only commercializing on a small local level, but their attitudes and spirits are immeasurable.  

Don Santos, for example, owner of eight acres (meager compared to his neighbors), would barely acknowledge a visitor or only speak timidly with his head bowed just one and a half years ago. There was little to be seen except for a rustic hut and a small garden.  Today, everything is the opposite. Don Santos smiles, shares his story, makes eye contact and proudly demonstrates how his “paltry” eight acres produces over twenty different vegetables, tubers, fruit and hardwood varieties.  

Where there was once just the small thatch hut is now a wooden home, cariocha (solar dryer), chicken coop,  troja mejorado (wooden grain silo) and more.  His formerly meager garden now spans his entire property with small areas dedicated to various plantings, such as a vegetable garden, diversified fruit garden, cacao plantation (plantains and forestry species), a natural hardwood and native forest, citrus grove intercropped with peach palm, and much more. While his income has not yet increased considerably, he is proud of his accomplishments and hopes to grow his farm not only in size, but density so that he can sell a bit more to his neighbors.

NEW FUTURE
The same is true for Don Candido, a man over sixty years old who was once known as the town alcoholic, but is now the owner of a richly diversified piece of property. The entire town was once like Don Candido, caring little about their future or the importance of farming.  Few in the community farmed, and most were dependent on other communities; however that has all changed. Don Candido is now an example for his community and is proud to show off his hard work. Every little space in his garden has been maximized for production purposes. Even though Don Candido might not be able to explain the chemical properties of his compost or the difference between anaerobic and aerobic digestion and respiration, he knows that it works and provides results - something far more important to him than chemical formulas and ratios.

SHI-Nicaragua is achieving so much under great leadership and an effective model of educating farmers, and most importantly it is transforming people. Institutions so often speak in numbers and quantitative indicators, yet fail to mention or focus on the human aspect of their work - the process of transforming an individual or family from a "destitute" existence to one where they live in harmony with nature and speak proudly of their accomplishments. In the mangroves, swamps and lowland tropics of the South Atlantic of Nicaragua, SHI-Nicaragua is doing exactly that - empowering individuals and giving small-scale farmers the opportunity to reinvent themselves and demonstrate the possibilities of change.

PHOTO: DON SANTOS SHOWS JUSTIN THE ORANGE TREES HE RECENTLY PLANTED IN HIS FRUIT GROVE.