Seeds for Progress Foundation launches child labor prevention program in Nicaragua

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Seeds for Progress Foundation in alliance with CISA Exportadora, a member of Mercon Coffee Group, has launched the Cultivating Education Program, a pioneering program that offers childcare and educational attention during the coffee harvest season in Nicaragua. As part of the organization’s child labor prevention efforts, the program will benefit over 400 children of coffee farm workers, while contributing to the economic and social development of the country’s coffee-growing communities.

The Cultivating Education Program will have a total investment of $317,000 for the creation of six new community centers, allowing children to learn and develop throughout the harvest season. This year, two centers were inaugurated in Nueva Guinea and Jinotega.

“Through these efforts, we aim to contribute to sustainable change in coffee regions, raising community awareness of the importance of child labor prevention. Our new centers provide a safe and healthy space for children, whose parents work at coffee plantations. Our education program focuses on the overall well-being of children, promoting their physical and emotional development, as well as their health and safety”, emphasized Rosa Rivas, Director of Seeds for Progress Foundation.

Since 2013, Seeds for Progress Foundation in alliance with CISA Exportadora, provides quality education in coffee-growing communities, benefiting 5,000 students in 24 schools across Nicaragua. In Jinotega, the Buenos Aires School has been adapted to function as one of the six community centers for children that comprise the Cultivating Education Program, currently serving a total of 51 children.

In December, the second community center was inaugurated in Nueva Guinea, which will serve 40 children of coffee farm workers. To date, Seeds for Progress has invested over $500,000 for the improvement of 5 schools in Nueva Guinea, as well as didactic and technological materials for the classrooms.

“CISA Exportadora is committed to transforming lives in coffee-growing communities—this is why we  work in partnership  with Seeds for Progress to create a circle of prosperity for future generations through quality education,” comments Mario Hurtado, Agricultural Division Manager at CISA Exportadora.

Through the Cultivating Education Program, teachers benefit from early stimulation training techniques such as Montessori, as well as play-based education methodologies to strengthen the learning and integral development of children 0-14 years old.

The Cultivating Education Program’s methodology framework was developed in 2015, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, as well as the Ministry of Family with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in response to the problem of child labor in coffee-growing regions of Nicaragua.