Participatory Research in Nicaragua - Report on a Pilot Project

Abstract

Following the Triumph of 19 July 1979, the Nicaraguan Revolution has embarked upon a course of social transformation in which, for the rural sector where 65 per cent of its population reside, agrarian reform with cooperative development constitutes the central thrust. By 1982 Agricultural, Credit and Service, and Work Co-operatives covered 53 per cent of the small agricultural sector, 43 per cent of the total cultivated area of this sector and 15 per cent of the total cultivated area of the country. However, the bulk of these new production units are facing a wide range of internal problems such as an insignificant or non-existent level of capitalisation, a high degree of organisational and structural instability, superficial knowledge on the part of the members and leaders of their functions and obligations, poor technology, and a low level of formal education which stands in the way of the adoption of superior technology.