Learning Route Nicaragua

‘Passion rebuilds the world for the youth. It makes all things alive and significant.’ -
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Advantages, challenges and lessons learned from Latin America’s young rural talents

By Adolfo Castrillo

As we continued on our learning route in Nicaragua, the passion and potential of youth took the forefront. 



This learning space was presented to us by Procasur with the support of the Ministry of Family Economy, the implementing agency for the IFAD-funded PROCAVAL and PRODOSEC projects that we visited along the route. 



Some questions come to mind from the interesting discussions fostered along the way. How can we empower young rural talents to rebuild our world? How can we invest resources, know-how and manpower to ensure long-term sustainability, peace and progress?



First off, we must understand the context that frames the issue. According to Procasur, there are 120 million young people in Latin America and the Caribbean today, if we define “youth” as people between 15 and 29. Of these, about 30 million live in rural areas, with boys outnumbering girls (53 to 47 per cent). In the countryside as a whole, young people comprise about 25 per cent of the population today.

Their access to opportunities, education, assets and the such will be a deciding factor in the future of food security, economic development and environmental sustainability not just in Latin America but across the globe.



The stakes are high, indeed. As we learned during the presentations by Procasur and from the young people themselves, besides having an abundance of passion, energy and ambition, there is a competitive advantage of this new generation of rural talents. If we look at the region as a whole, young people have higher levels of education than their parents, they know how to use new technology and are open to innovation.



Perhaps most importantly, young people stand at a crossroads. In the next few years, these rural talents will choose to stay in their communities, leave for the bigger cities (or mid-sized rural hubs that are growing exponentially in the region). They will decide to follow the road of peace and inclusion into the society as a whole or they will fall into a non-virtuous cycle attached to the drug trade, gangs and easy money.



It’s not going to be easy making these choices. And while there are numerous comparative advantages to being young, there are tons of disadvantages, too. 

With complex inheritance systems and relatively high levels of population growth, we simply don’t have the land, assets, institutions or policies in place to empower these youth.

If we continue on the path we are on today, most of Latin America’s young people will remain an invisible majority. 



So what can we do to make it better? 

Four clear themes are emerging from this Learning Route and our work with youth in the region over the past several years. 



Young people need

•    Access to technical and business development assistance

•    Insertion into labor markets

•    Access to land and productive capital 

•    Access to financial services



Young Rural Enterprisers Program

The IFAD-supported Procasur Corporation is running this Learning Route along with similar learning spaces across the Global South. Procasur started looking at rural youth in the region in 2008 with the Young Rural Talents Program. The program sought to identify problems and needs, challenges and opportunities. 



The Young Rural Enterprisers Program builds on this work, promoting innovation and focusing its energies on meeting the unique demands of today’s rural youth. The project will achieve this goal and work toward reducing rural poverty by using knowledge as a key driver for change, by fostering political dialogue and by co-financing innovative youth-run micro-enterprises. 

This venture funding will invest at least half of its resources in women-run enterprises, also providing the means to share these lessons between a new network of tomorrow’s rural leaders.

Procasur presentations

RUTA DE APRENDIZAJE - Jovenes gestores, jovenes protagonistas. from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

Ruta de Aprendizaje - Programa regional juventud rural emprendedora from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

Videos (en español)


Video courtesy Canal 13

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Certified sustainable products offer new opportunities for smallholders

Markets for certified sustainable agricultural products are outpacing conventional markets and are expected to continue to grow globally in the coming years. This expansion offers opportunities for small-scale farmers in developed and developing countries to produce food sustainably and cost-effectively.

Yet sustainable production is mainly concentrated in developed countries. Our challenge is to open up the same opportunities to smallholder farmers in developing countries.

At IFAD, we see enormous promise in certified sustainable agricultural products. To label these products as sustainable, an independent certification programme must make inspections and determine that growers use environmentally and ethically sound farming practices.

Over the last 10 years, IFAD has funded 43 programmes focusing on value chain development for commodities that are eligible for voluntary certification. The programmes cover a wide range of crops in different parts of the world. As the map below indicates, there is significant potential for growth.

While such programmes can help smallholder farmers, they also raise questions and challenges. For example, how will smallholders learn how to produce sustainably? What does sustainability imply for them? How will they obtain certification for their products? And once certified, will their products be marketable?

SAMCERT puts smallholder farmers first

Answering these questions requires active learning on the part of smallholder farmers and strong linkages with markets, which public-private partnerships can provide. To foster such partnerships and strengthen smallholders’ access to markets for certified sustainable products, the IFAD Technical Division and the West and Central Africa Division have launched a programme called Strengthening Smallholders' Access to Markets for Certified Sustainable Products, or SAMCERT.

Implemented in cooperation with the Sustainable Commodity Initiative (SCI) and the Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification (ICEA), SAMCERT plays a key role in:

Ø  Assessing the certification potential of target smallholder producer groups

Ø  Identifying and promoting sustainable certification schemes to develop market access for smallholder farmers

Ø  Increasing knowledge about organic agriculture, Fairtrade and other sustainability certification programmes

Ø  Building the capacity of smallholder farmers to produce sustainably and manage the certification process

Ø  Developing relationships with key market actors to support certification-based partnerships along the supply chain.

So far, SAMCERT has focused on IFAD projects in West and Central African nations, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea Conakry, and São Tomé and Principe. It will soon expand to one more country in West Africa,  one in Latin America and another in the Asia and the Pacific region.

In São Tomé and Principe, SAMCERT supports the Participatory Smallholder Agriculture and Artisanal Fisheries Development Programme (PAPAFPA), an ongoing IFAD project. Its objective is to improve poor rural farmers’ and fishers’ access to national and external markets. Smallholder families participating in the programme have seen their yearly income increase, on average, from 25 per cent below the poverty level to 8 per cent above it.

PAPFPA’s success is linked to the development of strong ties with key partners, such as Kaoka and Cafédirect for organic and Fairtrade cocoa, Malongo for organic coffee, and Hom & Ter for organic white pepper. The project shows that smallholder farmers can produce high-quality products in a sustainable manner – and that market barriers can be overcome.

In Sierra Leone, SAMCERT is engaging with the Rehabilitation and Community-based Poverty Reduction Project (RCPRP), which supports efforts to certify cocoa as Fairtrade and organic for export. Following up on a February 2012 scoping mission, SAMCERT facilitated a September training session on preparing for Fairtrade inspection in the country. Three Sierra Leonean cooperatives will be certified Fairtrade before the end of 2012. They will also receive support from SAMCERT on internal control systems (ICS), a key element for voluntary certification. An ICS training session is planned for early 2013.

Smallholders connect with suppliers, distributors and buyers

Representatives of the projects in São Tomé and Principe and Sierra Leone participated in the 24^th exhibition of organic and natural products, SANA 2012, which took place 8-11 September in Bologna, Italy. There, they shared experiences involving access to markets for certified commodities, and discussed the benefits of certification for smallholders.

The project participants also met with suppliers, distributors and buyers, some of whom were interested enough to request samples of their products in order to carry out quality tests. These tests represent a first step in the marketing of certified sustainable products. SAMCERT is keen to have producers attend events such as SANA, in hopes of opening up concrete opportunities for smallholder farmers and paving the way for new public-private partnerships. IFAD can play a strategic role in supporting such partnerships.

For its part, SAMCERT is bringing together the key actors involved in the sustainability certification process: producers, the private sector, standards bodies and consumers. While certification is not an end in itself – and is not the solution for all poor smallholder farmers – it can be a viable option to improve and diversify market access, and develop longer-term commercial relationships.

On 12 September, right after SANA 2012, a SAMCERT seminar was held at IFAD. Participants analysed the role of suppliers and other value chain actors, and talked about how to build effective and sustainable partnerships. The seminar was extremely well attended by representatives of IFAD, ICEA and SCI, as well as Cafédirect and many other private-sector partners. The seminar is over but the discussion continues, and SAMCERT welcomes your input.

Food for thought

Here’s some food for thought to encourage that input. Please use the comments section below to respond to these questions:

·         Public-private partnerships, or PPPs, usually involve a larger number of stakeholders than traditional commercial arrangements. With more participants comes more complexity. How can this complexity be minimized?

·         PPP stakeholders have different backgrounds and different ways of communicating. How can they best overcome communication barriers?

·         PPP stakeholders often have different project timeframes. How can they find the right balance in order to move forward together?

·         PPP stakeholders may have different perceptions of risk. How can they develop a common approach to risk management?

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Where there’s a will, there’s a way – to build strong partnerships together!

How to build a communications toolkit from scratch

IFAD COM team assembles communications toolkits.

When I sat down at the computer to write this blog, I had to admit to myself that I’m not an experienced blogger. I didn’t really know how to start. Then I remembered that the new Toolkit for IFAD communications includes a whole section on writing a memorable blog post! Following the tips offered in the toolkit – which will be rolled out at IFAD today –  I started to type. And with that my story unfolds.

When I was asked to coordinate development of the toolkit, I jumped at the opportunity. Little did I know what a learning curve I was in for.

How do you build a communications toolkit from scratch? I wasn’t sure, but my first thought was simply to start with a vision. As the person in the Communications Division who takes care of the budget and other corporate processes, I’m aware of all the areas of expertise that COM has to offer, but I’m not an expert in any of them. So I decided that what we needed was a practical guide for non-experts like me who want and need to know how to use communications more effectively.

With that vision in mind, my next step was to collect tips, best practices and guidelines from my colleagues, the communications professionals. I turned to the COM team to share their many years of collective knowledge and expertise. Their contributions were then compiled into a living document, which can be updated on the basis of changing needs and feedback from toolkit users.

The toolkit is a practical guide for
effective communications.

That all sounds simple, right? Not really. Coordinating a publication such as the Toolkit for IFAD communications involves receiving and reviewing content, then working with writers to put it all in context and editors to give it a consistent voice. Tracking the edited versions and keeping up with the most current documents can be downright dizzying. When all the written pieces start to fall into place, the design process begins. So many questions! What will the cover look like? How will the pages be laid out? And how will the contents be visually organized? No sooner are these design questions answered than the toolkit goes into production, with multiple rounds of proofreading to check every word, comma, link and reference. Finally, it goes to the printer.

At the end of this process, I took a deep breath and felt a sense of great satisfaction.

Of course, developing the toolkit has been very much a team effort. As I worked on the project, I shared my vision and ideas with colleagues, both at IFAD headquarters and in the field, who provided valuable feedback. Their enthusiasm kept me motivated at times when it all seemed overwhelming. Now that the toolkit is ready to roll out, I want to thank all those who helped in so many different ways. You know who you are.

And to anyone at IFAD who is faced with a communications dilemma: Help and support are always available from COM, but if you just don’t know where to begin, you can also reach for your copy of the Toolkit for IFAD communications. May all your visions come true!

Download IFAD communications toolkit

Rural enterprisers take the lead

Nicaragua learning route brings young rural talents from across Central America together to ‘weave networks for the proactive inclusion of young people in rural development’

By Adolfo Castrillo
“The youth of today and the youth of tomorrow will be accorded an almost unequaled opportunity for great accomplishment and for human service.” - Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler

The potential of youth is outstanding.  Today’s young people will feed the world tomorrow. They will lead nations and build bridges. They will work toward peace and hopefully engineer a world that is greener, cleaner, friendlier and more inclusive.

Yes, there is great potential here. But for most young people living in Latin America’s countryside, there simply aren’t the opportunities to access the land, education, capital and other assets needed to achieve this great potential. 

Will this be a lost generation of young rural talents? We hope not.

With the goal of sharing experiences, building trust and empowering young rural people to be the central protagonists in their own development, we are gathering young enterprisers from across Central America for a Learning Route in Nicaragua from October 17 to 21.

During the learning route, participants will have the chance to see first hand how micro-enterprise development in Nicaragua is enabling young people to continue their studies, make more money, build their assets, create alternatives to the violence that has become pervasive across the region, and play a proactive, leading role in our society, culture and economy.

In all, some 39 young people will take part in the Learning Route, run through the IFAD-backed Procasur Corporation. The learning route begins with three days of visits to IFAD-sponsored enterprises in the Nicaragua countryside, and is followed by workshops, where young people will work to shape their futures. The potential of youth, it seems, is truly unequaled.

Illustrations of young entrepreneurs in the IFAD-supported Artefina Artisans Cooperative. Photos and illustrations by Greg Benchwick.

Watch videos
Ladislao Rubio is IFAD's Country Program Manager for Nicaragua. In this video, he looks at IFAD's funding for the Central American country, and how innovations in funding for rural micro-enterprise development are making a difference. 


Procasur Tweets

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Goodness, gracious.

I was walking by myself downtown last night at about 10pm, and a man stopped me. His appearance suggested that he was having a hard time of it, maybe even didn't have a home - tired face, worn clothes.

"Excuse me, could you help me out?" he asked, politely.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any cash." I smiled and replied, starting to walk backwards toward my destination.  Since I stopped waiting tables, I never have any cash. This has become a kind of reflex for me - I don't want to let people spend too much time asking me for money I don't have.

"I'm not asking for money, I just need help getting some food."

I stopped walking. It's bad enough that there are people in my city in real need of food, but if a person is standing in front of me asking for it, there's really no excuse.

I looked around. We were right by a convenience store. I thought maybe we could go in there and I would buy him something with my credit card.

"What kind of food?" I asked. This was important to the plan of action I was putting together in my head.

"I need food for my baby. I have a ten-month old and they kick you out of the shelter after 60 days. I'm not ever from here, I'm from Connecticut."

At this point, two things were going on in my head: First, why was he not answering my question? It made me think that his speech about the baby was just that, a speech. Second, I remembered that I actually did have cash, but I was too embarrassed to give it to him, lest he think I was lying when I said I had none.

"Listen, I'm coming to a woman for help, so you know I must be in a really bad place," he went on, grinning and bowing slightly, as if I could certainly understand that.

My eyes squinted and my mouth got smaller.

"I'm sorry. Not tonight." I smiled weakly and walked away.

I'm a little ashamed that I let my ideas about gender equality stop my from further engaging a human that was obviously in need of something (maybe not food, but something). I really bothered me, though. I thought "Really? Even here? Even when I'm being panhandled, I need to be told by another person, who doesn't know me at all, that my being a woman dictates what role I can play and what I have to offer?"

Goodness, gracious.

--
This post was written as part of a blogging game. The players are The Creative Collective. Click here to read what the others have to say about "MEN."

Going Rogue

I've half-made a few resolutions in my head. You know, the kind you don't really want to make because you suspect there will a time when you really want to break them, and if you never made them, then you're not really breaking them, right?

One resolution that I did make is to write all of The Creative Collective (see the bottom of this post for more info) posts that I missed over the past year. The problem is that part of the reason I missed the posts is that I didn't have anything to say about the topic. Creativity: challenged.

My first make-up topic is "Where no one else has gone before." I think the reason I avoided this topic is because it alludes to something I have a bit of an issue with: being unique. I've somehow grown into quite the little realist. Not sure how that happened. Maybe I was always this way. In any case, I'm discovering that it's a help and a hindrance.

I like being realistic because it gives me a certain confidence. If I have a project in front of me, I'm pretty good at discerning what needs to happen in order for it to be completed well. I can be a visionary, but I'm inhibited by what I can actually see coming to pass in my brain - nuts and bolts and all.

I don't like being realistic because it makes risk difficult when something important is at stake. I can see, all too well, every reason a thing wont work.

For instance, over the past several months, and more-so since being laid off, I've been pursuing some entrepreneurial projects. The idea was, if no one was going to hire me to do something important, I'd just have to hire myself.

The problem is, there is a lot of risk involved in these types of things. It's less the financial risk that I'm concerned about, and more the risk of being made a fool. If I put any real faith in these projects and they fail, then I will have been unwise and wrong, and I don't like to be unwise and wrong.

I understand that failure at this sort of thing isn't really failure, it's invaluable learning experience, blah blah blah, but that doesn't really make me feel any better. I like to be right and I like to succeed.

So, I move forward, because it's what I want to do, but pretty regularly I have this unpleasant discussion in my head that's similar to two parents discussing whether or not to let their 5'1" asthmatic son try out for the NBA.

"He'll just be crushed."

"I know, but we have to let him try."

Depressing, right?

Yes. But every time I feel as discouraged as can be, something tiny happens: a kind word or a small success, and I'm back in the game. I hear this is what being a rogue professional is like, so I guess that's a good sign.

Old photo of me looking triumphant:

This post was written, though very tardily, as part of a blogging game. The players are The Creative Collective, and here are their thoughts on "Where no one else has gone before."