La Gallina, Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, 41% of all women live in the rural sector (INIDE, 2015). This rural female population is not a homogeneous group. Not all women are involved in agricultural activity, a characteristic they share with other rural women in Central America, where more than half participate in non-agricultural rural jobs (FAO).
In 2023 ViviendasLeón expanded to a new community in Nicaragua called La Gallina. The challenges there are similar to those in other communities where we work, and in other underdeveloped tropical countries around the world. Lack of food security, high unemployment, and limited access to education are common. Women in this community also struggle with widespread unemployment and emotional stress disorders as a result of living for generations in uncertainty.
During the implementation of our HCT program in 2023, a third of the 20 women in the program had founded a cooperative two years previously. They named it CoopEMEGA, an acronym for Cooperative of Entrepreneurial Women Managing Alternatives and Solutions. This group produces chili based condiments known as chileros that are popular in homes and restaurants in the city of León, and are made with chili, onion, cucumber, carrot and vinegar.
This group saw an opportunity to expand their small cooperative business through participating in our training program. Here is one of the founder’s testimonial:
Anielka Lopez, co-founder of CoopEMEGA:
“We formed CoopEMEGA three years ago. The cooperative is now 14 women from here in La Gallina. We work hard but this is our opportunity to work together, to look out for ourselves as women, and work as a team for the benefit of our families and our community.”
“We make aprons and our handcrafted chili pepper condiment, which are sold to restaurants in León. Occasionally we have large orders which makes us happy! The larger the production, the more profit we earn. We participate in gastronomic fairs that we organize in our community and in fairs that MEFCCA (a national organization for business development) organizes in the cities.
Forming CoopEMEGA provided the hope of employment for women who were looking for a way to provide for their families. We are women with children who need an income that allows us to meet basic needs and expenses in food, services and to save to meet community needs. Participating in the HCT program allowed us to acquire and reinforce the knowledge that we now use in our work in the cooperative.”
Until 2023, these women grew chili crops, ran a business cooperatively and had learned a lot about plants and business. Today their opportunities and incomes will expand to include production from their farms, which in part will be sold to the cooperative to make their condiments, still more will be sold as fresh produce at the gastronomic fairs to benefit their community, and some will be consumed at home to improve the family’s diet. Our program has not only created new sources of food in rural communities, but can be leveraged to help create a more successful rural economy based in agriculture.
You can read more about communities of Nicaragua in the stories below.
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