Project Nicaragua

In 2012, a devastating epidemic known as la roya (coffee leaf rust) swept through Central America, decimating the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. For the women of the Las Diosas ("The Goddesses") cooperative in Nicaragua, the blight was catastrophic, destroying up to 80% of their coffee plants.

In response, On the Ground Global, in partnership with Just Coffee Cooperative, launched Project Nica. This initiative focused on immediate relief, crop renovation, and long-term economic diversification to help these women farmers rebuild their farms and secure their future.

The Crisis: Battling La Roya

Coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) is a fungus that attacks the leaves of the coffee bush, preventing photosynthesis and eventually killing the plant. While the disease has existed in the region since the 1970s, the outbreak that began in 2012 was unprecedented, driven by rising temperatures and irregular rain patterns associated with climate change.

For the women of Las Diosas, the impact was immediate and severe. Many lost the majority of their income, and across the region, nearly 400,000 coffee workers lost their jobs. With coffee plants taking 3–4 years to mature and bear fruit, the women faced a desperate gap in income that threatened their food security and ability to remain on their land.

"It’s been a huge blow. It’s affected us so heavily that we still don’t know what we can do." — Marvin Pérez, El Sontule community member.

Who We Supported: Las Diosas and La FEM

This project specifically supported Las Diosas, a network of community-based cooperatives run entirely by women in the department of Estelí. Las Diosas emerged from Fundación Entre Mujeres (La FEM), an NGO dedicated to the ideological, economic, and political empowerment of rural women in northern Nicaragua.

The Challenge for Women Farmers: Women in this region face unique hurdles. In addition to the environmental crisis, they often struggle with unequal access to land titles and credit compared to their male counterparts. Many are single mothers. Las Diosas provides a vital structure for these women to own their land, combat gender-based violence, and advocate for their rights.

How We Helped: The Project Strategy

OTG and Just Coffee mobilized resources to fund a comprehensive recovery plan developed by the women of Las Diosas. The 2014–2016 intervention focused on three key pillars:

1. Crop Renovation and Nurseries

To save the coffee harvest, the dead plants had to be replaced.

  • Resistant Varieties: The project funded the purchase and planting of rust-resistant coffee varieties, including Java, Catuai, and Geisha.

  • Nurseries (Viveros): We supported the establishment of coffee nurseries in San Pedro and directly in base communities like El Colorado and Dipilto. This decentralized approach helped reduce seedling mortality caused by transporting plants across different altitudes and climates.

  • Distribution: By mid-2016, approximately 65,000 seedlings had been distributed to cooperative members to replant their fields.

2. Technical Assistance and Education

Replacing plants was not enough; the women needed the technical skills to manage the disease organically.

  • Local Experts: Funds were used to hire internal technical assistants—Belmalin Rivas and Sebastiana Murillo—young women from within the cooperative trained in agronomy.

  • Train-the-Trainer: These assistants visited cooperatives weekly, teaching members how to produce organic fertilizers and mineral treatments (using copper sulfate, zinc, and magnesium) to nourish the soil and fight the fungus.

3. Diversification and Food Security

To ensure families could survive the years while new coffee plants matured, the project supported economic diversification:

  • Food Security: Families established gardens with fruit trees, bananas, cabbage, and avocados to ensure they had food on the table.

  • Alternative Income: The project provided resources for raising pigs and chickens and cultivating Rosa de Jamaica (hibiscus) and chia seeds, allowing women to generate income even when coffee yields were low.

  • Market Access: We assisted Las Diosas in registering barcodes for their roasted coffee and jams, a necessary step to selling their finished products in local Nicaraguan supermarkets.

The Impact

By the end of the 2016 reporting period, the resilience of the Las Diosas women was evident:

  • 16–20 women per community were attending weekly training sessions, adopting bio-intensive farming methodologies.

  • 20 tons of organic fertilizer were produced by the women to restore soil health.

  • Migration was reduced as families found renewed hope and resources to stay on their land rather than leaving for cities or other countries to find work.

Through Project Nica, OTG and Just Coffee helped bridge the gap between disaster and recovery, ensuring that the "Goddesses" of Estelí could continue to farm, lead, and thrive.