What a week it has been here in the Bajo Lempa. The Production Team has had its ups and downs in regards to our project proposal, but today we had a breakthrough. Yesterday, January 6th, we created a project proposal that we had submitted to Juan Luna, the coordinator of the expansive Production Program, for review. At our meeting this morning he focused mainly on our project’s objectives and not so much on our project proposal. Not discouraged, we began brainstorming all over again.
Our project proposal focused on the strengthening of local production and commercialization through the creation of an Organization of Producers. We have observed that there are certain products that aren’t available for sale within certain communities, even though all the materials are present to produce such a product. For example, we are in a community with a large amount of milk production, however there are few, if any, community members that sell cheese. Most milk producers sell their milk to local agents known as “picacheros” and then purchase cheese, often times from the same picacheros. These products often times come from other regions of the country, or even as we learned from one of our host families, outside the country, Nicaragua in this case.
This is just an example of a resource that isn’t being utilized to its full potential. We have observed that there is a lack of value being added to basic commodities that could otherwise become a decent source of income for these families. We proposed the idea of having community members participate in workshops led by other community members with the knowledge of production, such as making cheese, that would help the community become more self sufficient.
Though our idea did not receive the “ax” as you might say, it did receive the question of how this system of workshops would be organized and who would administer them. That is where the organization of producers would come into play. Juan Luna mentioned that our talents could help them create a structure for this organization of producers focusing in on the roles of the governing body, responsibilities (including our workshop idea), requirements for membership, benefits for being a member, and a growth strategy. We spent most of the day brainstorming and organizing our thoughts around this new organization. What a day it was.
We decided as a group that we would interview the Grupos Locales, groups of community members, to determine who has the abilities and interests in joining an organization of producers. Once we have determined who the most passionate candidates are, we will hold a meeting to facilitate the creation of said organization. Well…that is the idea at least. We understand that there are many obstacles we will face, but we are feeling very confident at this point that we can achieve this goal.
Juan Luna and we believe that organizing producers will aid in achieving the ultimate goal of food sovereignty and self sufficiency within the region.
We are on day 4 of our time here in Ciudad Romero and the Bajo Lempa and we have 19 more to go. We have a lot of work still ahead of us. No one said this would be easy.
