In May 2008 Rick and Wendy’s visit to five countries in two weeks for TechnoServe proved fascinating, exhausting AND invaluable. The TechnoServe teams in Central and South America were wonderful, letting us observe the impact they are having on their clients in Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
On their only trip to Nicaragua, Rick and Wendy visited the TechnoServe-Nicaragua office where they learned about the Dairy Program operated in collaboration with CARE and UNAN Leon (Universidad Nacional de Autonoma aka National University of Independence, in Leon, Nicaragua). Please review this project in Nicaraguan Successes. The largest country in Central America with 5.6 million people, Nicaragua has a geographic advantage in easy access to both regional and international markets. Though it is still run by Socialist and former rebel leader Daniel Ortega, the country is slowly becoming politically
more open. With a relatively small but flexible and growing economy, agriculture is the foundation for Nicaragua’s economic development. Tourism and the financial industry also show potential. Since 1976, TechnoServe-Nicaragua has concentrated on helping micro- and small agricultural producers enter formal markets, improve product quality, boost profits, become more competitive, and gain access to better-paying markets. Identifying and supporting entrepreneurs through business plan competitions has also been one step in this process.*
Please visit http://www.technoserve.org/work-impact/locations/nicaragua to learn about other Nicaraguan success stories.
*From www.technoserve.org website description of its presence in Nicaragua
