PRODECOOP - Promotora de Desarrollo Cooperativo de las Segovias
Purpose
GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
To contribute to sustainable improvements in the quality of life of families of small-scale coffee producers
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
* To promote and encourage the development of self-management capabilities of co-operatives and of the rural families who comprise these co-operatives
* To promote co-operative education and the development of relations of brotherhood, co-operation, exchange and solidarity between the co-operatives and our partners and other actors in socio-economic development
* Promote the ability of member co-operatives to strengthen the co-operative movement; nationally, regionally and internationally
* Contribute to improving gender equality and equity and the socio-economic position of women
* To contribute to improving incomes and thereby improve the socio-economic status of the families who comprise our base co-operatives
* To develop economic capacity, production and business to improve the income of members
Producers
The 40 lower-level co-operatives are comprised of 2,300 small-scale coffee farmers in the Las Segovias region of northern Nicaragua.
Benefits
With the revenue derived from fair trade sales, the co-operative has paid for:
- an educational support programme which includes scholarships, free books and school bags
- additional coffee production facilities including de-pulping machines, a dry mill, and warehouses, which help to improve coffee quality, while at the same time reducing the time required by farmers to process their coffee
- a revolving social fund used to build and improve members homes, and to provide disaster relief and health care
- a quality control centre and cupping lab
PRODECOOP has been actively working to help members secure legal title over the land they occupy. To date, they have been successful in helping to obtain more than 350 property title documents.
The organisation has also secured funding for distribution to farmers in support of their coffee tree renovation initiatives.
Many members of lower-level co-operatives have been given training in co-operative management, and in advanced farm management.
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