Land & Food Security for Women in the Miskitu Territories of Nicaragua

World Centric + CEJUDHCAN

$44,670.00 from profits from fiscal year 2018

Non-native settlers have been moving into the Awas Tingni territory on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. Armed with machetes and guns, the new-comers regularly threaten and perpetrate violence on the Awas Tingni. As a result, the Awas Tingni are being forced to abandon their food-crop fields because the distance from their homes and the proximity to the settlers make these farm lands vulnerable to attack. With World Centric funding, CEJUDHCAN will support women in bio-intensive agriculture on the land directly surrounding their homes.

CEJUDHCAN provides garden training for all the women participating in the program; how to plant a bio-intensive garden and how to tend it. Garden materials are then distributed, including shovels and fencing to keep goats and other animals from eating the crops. CEJUDHCAN regularly provides continued training and site visits.

It is important to note that the Miskitu communities are self-sufficient and have very little participation in the cash economy. Thus, the ability to produce food is crucial.

We have funded this project since 2016; each year expanding the number of women participating.

Our Funding

• Hire a full-time agroecologist to lead garden initiatives.
• Establish 50 new bio-intensive gardens, including purchasing tools.
• Distribute 700 plants to all 350 women participating in the program.
• Provide 3 agroecology trainings.

Indirect Impact:

• Increased safety for women who will no longer have to travel great distances to tend their land.
• As women regain their ability to produce food and make money, they will have greater power in their families. This increases women’s voices in family and village decision making.
• Improved food security for 350 households.
• Bio-intensive gardens will improve soil fertility.
• Health improvements from access to diverse crops and high nutrient fruits, such as breadfruit, avocado, and citrus.

About CEJUDHCAN

A World Centric partner since 2017.

CEJUDHCAN is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization that provides educational programs, legal support, and practical assistance to indigenous peoples and afro-descendant communities on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. They these communities with the actualization of their established communal rights, specifically self-determination and autonomous governance over communal lands.

More projects with CEJUDHCAN

• Youth Wellness in the Miskitu Territories of Nicaragua