CANTERA: Planting for the Future

Cantera is teaching communities how to grow some crops all year long by enriching the soil with organic fertilisers and using waste water and micro-irrigation techniques which use water very effectively.

Yannette takes us around her plot where she has established ‘raised beds’, small plots of composted soil which is regularly watered.

Yannette grows tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, cucumbers, onions and radishes. She waters her plants daily with small amounts of waste water from the kitchen and can produce at least two harvests on these plots each year.

At the community meeting, 10 families explain how the garden plots have allowed them to enrich their diet and enjoy fresh produce even in the dry season. They have learnt to save seeds from each crop so that they can plant again and have a constant supply.

Some families have excelled in tomato production, others with courgettes and exchanges of vegetable have now become common place. Two of the families tell us how they are now selling their vegetables in the local market. From this example, the community discuss the possibilities of commercialising their production. Cantera staff are there to listen and to help the community plan the way forward.

Community organisation and training is crucial to this project. Community promoters like Fernando will eventually continue this work where Cantera leaves off. By being organised, the families work together and make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate.

Our next stop is the local school. Here I am shown another example of the benefits of community organisation. With SCIAF support they have set up a school vegetable garden beside the classroom. The Nicaraguan government provides some beans, rice and oil while the children, with support from the community, work on their large plot to add fresh, healthy, organic vegetables.

I am shown around by some of the young students who explain the whole process of planting seeds, separating seedlings and protecting their crops from pests. The children have learned a lot from this experience and are able to provide for themselves.