Improved nutrition and food security for coffee and cocoa farmers

Previously we introduced you to Socrates González Lanzas. His family’s income has drastically increased due to their participation in the Access to Sustainable Markets and Food Security (PROMESSA-CAFCA) project. In addition to increasing the family’s income, the project has helped to significantly improve their nutrition and food security situation.

Socrates and his family have started to grow vegetables in a kitchen garden and they built a greenhouse that allows them to produce food for the family throughout the year. In addition, the wet milling process that Socrates has started to use to process coffee berries, produces a viscous waste-product that he uses to fertilise his vegetable plots.

Now the family grows several varieties of nutritious food stuffs, such as green leaf vegetables, peas and other legumes. Their food and nutrition security situation has improved drastically, while their expenditure on vegetables decreased significantly.

“We used to have to go to the market in Matagalpa to buy vegetables and pulses. We used to spend about €35 per month to buy food and vegetables plus the money we had to spend on bus fares to get there. With the production of vegetables and pulses, we now have enough for our own needs and sell the surplus at the Community Rural Tourist Centre, to the local church and also to our neighbours.” says Mr González.

According to Douglas Benavides, the PROMESSA-CAFCA coordinator, the project works to bolster knowledge and capacities regarding access, availability, production and consumption of healthy foods. In this way, families eat better and more, increase their caloric, protein and mineral intake, and as a result, raise their levels of economic and social development.

The González López family are amongst 370 coffee growing families who have established bio-intensive kitchen gardens as part of the PROMESSA-CAFCA project.