Technolinks+: Advancing Inclusive Prosperity in Nicaragua's Agri-food Export Sector

The Technolinks+ Project aims to improve the livelihoods of women and men living in impoverished rural areas of northern Nicaragua. The project facilitates the access promotion and adoption of environmentally-sustainable agricultural technologies with the objective of increasing agricultural productivity quality and profitability for approximately 35 000 smallholder farmers and 85 agribusinesses cooperatives and producers' associations and creating 850 jobs in the agri-food sector. The project has a special focus on supporting women smallholder farmers women cooperatives and women producer associations.

Results achieved as of March 2023 include: (1) informed 54 799 producers (26 944 women) about technology benefits through different promotion activities. These activities include technological fairs business roundtables and training and workshops. From these producers 4 717 smallholder farmers (1 792 women) have redeemed the e-voucher discounts to purchase agricultural technology; (2) 29 agribusinesses have joined the matching grant mechanism of these 11 are women led; (3) 483 women trained with the program "Rural Women and Entrepreneurship Program"; (4) created 2 610 jobs in the sector by cooperatives and agribusinesses and provided them with a Matching Grant including 936 for women; (5) an average of 83% of agribusinesses and cooperatives receiving assistance through the project reported a positive change in their incomes; (6) 1 029 producers (17% women) accessed credits to expand their business activities through Loan Credit Fund; (7) delivered 5 350 plants for reforestation in areas near water sources; (8) 133 producers participated in 12 training events on topic of resilience and climate change including 58 women. These trainings allowed them to strengthen their capacities to adapt to the impacts of climate change; and (9) 187 agricultural technicians (54 women) received training to bring technical assistance to the producers including on gender equality.