Agroecology And Food Systems Resources

Dissertation of Ernesto Mendez, 2004

Cooperatives and change: From revolution and agrarian reform to specialized coffee exporters in northern Nicaragua

The Promise and Failures of Fair Trade

In 2001, world coffee prices tumbled to all-time lows, devastating coffee-dependent farm families and their communities, in what became known as the global “coffee crisis.” Out of necessity, many farm families left their communities to find wage labor, while others cut down their coffee plants and shade trees in favor of cattle pasture. The integrity of coffee producing communities in México and Central America was strained by emigration, biodiversity was threatened by deforestation, and denuded and trampled hillsides started to wash away in the tropical rains.

The CAN AgroEco^® Coffee Order Form.  Buy coffee and support the Nicaraguan Youth Scholarship Fund.

Community Agroecology Network (CAN) and our partners PRODECOOP and CII-ASDENIC are collaborating on three-year project with the goal to enhance food security and build resilient food and agricultural systems that enable 740 households (approximately 4,440 people) in the Segovias region of northern Nicaragua to reduce and eventually eliminate los meses de las vacas flacas and more successfully resist the negative impacts to food security from climate change in the future.

Brochure that describes CAN's AgroEco^® coffee. Learn about sustainable coffee production.

Andrew Davis and V. Ernesto Mendez. "Prioritizing food security and livelihoods in climate change mitigation mechanisms: Experiences and opportunities in smallholder coffee agroforestry forest communities and REDD+". Policy brief based on an academic paper and book chapter looking at the carbon mitigation potential of smallholder coffee agroforestry.

2 Unidad: Comprendiendo los meses de las vacas flacas

This is the summary document (in Spanish) of a Food Security and Sovereignty Exchange and Forum that CAN organized for Green Mountain Coffee Roasting in Nicaragua this past summer. 

GMRC Annual Report: Year 1 (Jan 14-Dec 31, 2011).

Project vision:

To empower local youth leaders to develop school and community gardens as spaces of education and community capacity-building to promote a culture of healthy and sustainable food production, preparation, and consumption among local families.

Annual Report: Year Two: September 2010-December 2011.

Project goal:

The primary goal of this project is to work in partnership with PRODECOOP, the nineteen 1st level base cooperatives, and CII-ASDENIC to build the capacity within the cooperatives and decrease hunger and enhance food security by building resilient food and agricultural systems.