Smallholder

farmer

Outreach Program

Training & Agronomic Support Services

Cosecha Partners innovative smallholder outreach program is designed to empower farmers to improve their performance and successfully adopt regenerative agricultural practices.

As part of our outreach, our team of agronomists work alongside participating farmers throughout the year to ensure quality, productivity, and continuous improvement. The team delivers a series of workshops to educate farmers on a range of topics including crop-speciﬁc production practices, soil conservation and management, organic production methods, pruning techniques, post-harvest handling, and farm rehabilitation and renovation (R&R).

We use repeated demonstrations and support groups to show farmers how to practically implement the concepts and practices they learn on their farm. The team is also responsible for providing individualized technical assistance through follow-up visits to each farmer throughout the year.

This gives our field technicians the opportunity to evaluate the production practices of each farm, diagnose pest and disease problems, recommend specific measures to improve the performance of the operation, and assist in the development and management of our internal control systems.

We complement training and technical assistance with access to credit and organic inputs. For our farmers, one of the most significant obstacles to organic production and increased productivity is access to reliable organic inputs. As part of our outreach program, we distribute organic inputs including planting material, compost, and fertilizer to our producers on credit. We also provide training that educates farmers on how to prepare organic inputs using locally available materials, an important factor to reducing on-farm production costs.

Our Methodology

Agricultural extension has traditionally focused on the promotion of standardized production packages and expensive, environmentally destructive agro-chemicals. By contrast, our farmer outreach program is based on an experiential training methodology grounded in knowledge exchange, learning by discovery, and group analysis. Through a variety of experiences, these farmers gain the opportunity to learn, practice, and perfect regenerative agricultural methods.

Our program begins with the collection of diagnostic information and baseline data from participating households.

We evaluate the data to identify areas where farmers can improve their productivity, reduce production costs, and drive profitability.

We then design tailored curriculum based on the needs of the farmers and to address critical constraints to organic production.

Our outreach includes
workshops, demonstrations,
on-farm technical assistance, radio programs, and learning exchanges among farmers.

Our Grower Outreach Model

TECHNOLOGY

Farmer management platform
Improved agricultural inputs & production systems
Access to seedlings & genetic material

ACCESS TO FINANCE

A2F and financial literacy training
Facilitated financing through traditional & triangulation models
Credit risk & formalization tool for MFIs

CAPACITY BUILDING

Training on regen org practices
On-farm technical assistance
Demonstrational plots
Organic and FT standards and
certiﬁcations

ACCESS TO MARKETS

Pre-production grower contracts
Minimum pricing
Community purchase structure
Specifications

Rooted in Regenerative

We believe that agriculture lies at the heart of many of the world’s most pressing challenges - climate change, inequality, nutrition - and that regenerative agriculture is the key. Business as usual won’t cut it. In order to mitigate climate change and restore critical ecosystems, we must take bold, collective action to reorient our relationship with nature and produce food that preserves, not destroys, our planet. Smallholder farmers are on the frontline of these challenges and, with our help, can play a pivotal role in shaping a more equitable and environmentally secure future.

What is regenerative agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming that works with the “natural tendencies of ecosystems” to rehabilitate farms and enhance natural resources. It involves “beyond sustainable” farming practices that combat climate change by using photosynthesis and healthy soil microbiology to pull CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it in the ground.

For farmers, the benefits of the approach are numerous. Regenerative agriculture increases organic matter and soil biodiversity, leading to more resilient soils that better mitigate the effects of climate change and periodic drought. Healthy soils, in turn, enhance productivity and yield stability. It also improves soil water retention, reduces erosion, and promotes conditions for greater disease and pest resistance.

Building a regenerative movement

Cosecha Partners is working with smallholder groups to catalyze a farmer-led movement based on the principles of regenerative agriculture. We support our farmers at every point along their journey to regenerative, building off of traditional agroecological practices and incorporating that knowledge into a customized roadmap.

We design, install and promote regenerative organic agricultural systems that build soil health, enhance biodiversity and foster more resilient farming communities. Our core systems are centered around coffee-macadamia, cacao-hardwoods, and chia-beans.

Cosecha Partners’ team of agronomists provides hands-on training and farm practice guidelines to educate farmers and encourage continuous improvement. Our curriculum includes training and on-farm support in the use of cover crops, compost, crop rotation, agroforestry, and no-tillage techniques. We then measure the impact of these practices on the health of the farm ecosystem using indicators that track above and below ground biodiversity, soil organic matter, carbon sequestration and productivity.

Forest-friendly Production

Agroforestry is the strategic integration of tree crops into farming systems to enhance productivity and protect natural resources. Cosecha Partners works with smallholder farmers to promote diverse perennial agroforestry systems across our outreach programs in cacao, macadamia and coffee.

Unlike conventional, monoculture-based agriculture that relies heavily on pesticides andexternal inputs, agroforestry is a dynamic system that supports biodiversity, increases soil health and resilience, and naturally improves pest management. These systems integrate tropical tree species, including timber and fruit trees, with cacao, macadamia, coffee and other understory crops. The result is a big carbon sink, providing critical ecosystem services and public goods. By protecting trees and diversifying their production, smallholder farmers can increase their household income over the short and medium-term. In addition, sustainable timber production allows farmers to build a long-term savings plan.

How we Help

Cosecha Partners is helping to build and expand smallholder agroforestry systems in environmentally vulnerable areas of Nicaragua. We produce and distribute high quality cacao clones and macadamia seedlings from our community-led nurseries.

We also establish clonal gardens to promote the renovation and rehabilitation of aging and low-yielding cacao areas. The gardens are maintained by community leaders and serve as repositories of genetic material for further propagation and grafting efforts. Finally, we compliment access to planting material with demonstrations on propagation techniques to teach farmers how to establish and renovate on their own. Training also shows the positive impact of agroforestry practices on production yields and demonstrates the short and long-term economic viability of the model.