Nicaraguan Dry Corridor Rural Family Sustainable Development Project

Central America's Dry Corridor – a strip of land that runs from Panama to Guatemala along the Pacific coast – is a tough place to be a smallholder farmer. Climate change has only worsened the situation, making rain patterns more erratic and unpredictable. In Nicaragua, the Dry Corridor environment is undergoing severe degradation, with 52 per cent of soils overused and 40 per cent strongly or severely eroded. Falling production has led to food insecurity and a decline in household incomes in the region's rural areas.

The Government is trying to address the social, productive and environmental implications of the situation through the Dry Corridor Strategic Framework. In line with the Government's guidelines, the Nicaraguan Dry Corridor Rural Family Sustainable Development Project (NICAVIDA) aims to improve the situation of Nicaraguan smallholders living in the Dry Corridor.

NICAVIDA will contribute to rural families' and indigenous people's resilience by promoting the links between economic diversification, productive transformation, environmental protection and family nutrition. The project aims to ensure small farmers' access to nutritious food and an adequate diet and increase their capacity for natural resource management and adaptation to climate change.

Moreover, the project will develop plans to meet the communities' needs in terms of productive infrastructure, stewardship and management of natural resources, access to water, road improvement and investments in public services that will improve the living standards of families in rural areas and connect them to markets.

The project covers 58 municipalities within the Dry Corridor. The target population comprises 30,000 families, with a particular focus on women and young people.