History with Worker-owned Enterprises
Nicaraguan is the Central American country with the largest number of cooperatives accounting for nearly half of all in the region. WPF began to work directly with cooperatives, focusing on grassroots producer cooperatives, by lending them money to collect the harvest. Most of these cooperatives were not subjects of credit from other institutions. Since 1997 WPF has lent just under $10 million dollars directly to grassroots cooperatives and community organizations, with an average loan size of $44,055 and a loan loss rate of 3.55%. (Continued)
Community Social Enterprises
Our experience with cooperatives has led us to study and explore other forms of community organizations which involve direct local initiative and investment – community social enterprises. We are also studying traditional forms of community collaboration, like sharecropping and “mano vuelta” [shared labor]. (Continued)
Learning from the Experience of Accompaniment
Dr. René Mendoza has been accompanying these rural cooperatives and organizations in the name of WPF since 2011. The key to his accompaniment has been his “grassroot research” – ability to listen – which has provided insight into the world views, mental paradigms, forms of local organization, and motivations of rural populations. Significantly this has included their perceptions of and reactions to outside actors and their development programs (Continued)
Direct Trade with Roasters
Coffee production has been promoted among rural populations around the world as a means of combatting poverty and promoting rural development. But it has not lived up to its hype. One reason is the precipitous drop in the percentage of the price of a cup of coffee captured by coffee producers. In 1930s and 1940s it was approximately 33%, today it has fallen to less than 1%.
But surely the fair trade and organic movements have made a difference? Our research has found that the benefits of the fair trade and organic movements havelargely not reached small producers…(continued)
Rural Credit
WPF approach to credit has evolved over time. Impressed with the microcredit movement, WPF initially invested in multinational microcredit organizations like Accion and Opportunity to get capital into the hands of the poor. But WPF moved quickly into supporting Nicaraguan microcredit organizations reaching the agricultural sector, where most poor Nicaraguans make their living. (continued)
Educational Fund
The purpose of the initiative is to create and fund a research, development and implementation initiative, under the auspices of Winds of Peace Foundation, which will contribute to the transformation of Nicaraguan education by increasing practical access to and quality of education, and utilizing development of Nicaraguan ideas, programs, educators and strategies toward those ends. Elements of this program may include scholarship funding, education research, collaboration with Nicaraguan entities engaged in education development, creation of seminars or workshops, teacher training or other related activities. (continued)