In August of 2009 we wrote an article about chili pepper production in Agros villages in Nicaragua. In October of this year the new harvest is in and the results are great!

Six Agros communities in Nicaragua have become a source of chili peppers for Chilies of Nicaragua, a Nicaraguan chili exporting business. These six Agros villages have negotiated contracts with Chilies of Nicaragua to guarantee a market for their chili peppers. Chilies of Nicaragua provides Original TABASCO® Brand Pepper Sauce, a company of Louisiana, USA, with a large share of the chili peppers that they use in their popular Tabasco sauce.

Through agricultural loans and technical training and support from Agros, families in El Eden and San Jose started a pepper project in March 2006. Since that time, the success of the project increased to 115 families in six Agros communities. This year these communities have harvested 18 acres of chili peppers amounting to a combined yield of 69,993 pounds of chili peppers!

This harvest has earned the communities approximately US $31,352 in gross income. In addition to the huge efforts put toward production, the villagers themselves applied the training received from the Agros technical staff to pursue and negotiate a contract with Chilies of Nicaragua that guaranteed purchase of their chili pepper crops.

Learning new techniques, gaining experience negotiating with an exporter, and receiving a fair price for their crops has contributed to increased confidence among the chili farmers and their families.

San Marcos community leader, Hector, describes growing peppers as a challenging project; one that requires new techniques, lots of time, and many participating hands for the product to succeed and give positive results. “It’s not that easy to work with chili peppers,” mentions Hector. “You have to know when and where to cut, how hot the plants are, and then there are three days when you have to handle the peppers that burn your hands. We’ve also gotten used to working under the hot sun. This isn’t what’s important though. The important thing is that the income from these plants will provide for our needs like education, nutrition, medicine, and improving the quality of life in our homes.”

José, another community leader, agrees about the valuable opportunity this work provides. “A poor man doesn’t have anything except the choice to wake up early and fulfill his duties –more so for us now with the pepper project. It’s our turn to work hard and repay our debt. We won’t rest until the bright sun comes out on the new day when, even though we wake up to work, we will own our own land.”