ALC co-organizes Mexico-Nicaragua learning exchange on smallholder coffee farm diversification
ALC members Ernesto Méndez, Martha Caswell, and Janica Anderzén spent last week in Chiapas, Mexico, exchanging experiences and ideas around livelihood diversification, agroecology, and Participatory Action Research (PAR) in smallholder coffee communities of Mesoamerica. The week was both exciting and inspiring as coffee producers, academics, representatives from coffee buyers and NGOs from Mexico, Nicaragua, and the US, reviewed two and a half years of participatory action research, and set the course for next steps. This was the 2nd Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange within a 3-year PAR project on livelihood diversification in smallholder coffee systems, co-led by ALC, Santa Clara University and the Community Agroecology Network (CAN). Attendees included representatives of smallholder coffee cooperative partners Cesmach SC Oficial (Mexico) and Prodecoop (Nicaragua), the Community Agroecology Network (USA), the Universidad Nacional Agraria – Nicaragua (Nicaragua), el Departamento de Agricultura, Sociedad y Ambiente, Ecosur(Mexico), UVM/ALC (USA), Equal Exchange (USA), and Food 4 Farmers (USA). #agroecologyandlivelihoodscollaborative#uvm#cesmachoficial#prodecoop#communityagroecologynetwork#ecosur#universidadnacionalagragia#equalexchange#food4farmers#participatoryactionresearch#gundinsitute
ALC team members Alejandra Guzman (Post-doc) and Janica Anderzén (PhD candidate) prepare materials for the exchange 
Getting started in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, MX 
Presenting findings 
Group work 
Sharing agrobiodiversity from Mexico and Nicaragua 
Coffee and maize in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas 
Doña Leticia shows a ‘quelite’, an edible wild plant that grows in the shade coffee farms of Chiapas 
The PAR cycle in Mexico 
Seed exchange 
Discussing the PAR cycle in Nicaragua 
Visit to the community of Zapata 
Coming together in the community of Vista Alegre 
Preparing the seed exchange workshop 
CESMACH coffee 
The PAR cycle in Nicaragua