Did you know the term Third World was coined during the Cold War of the 1950’s to define allegiance of the world’s nations in respect to the world super powers – The United States and The USSR? If a country was capitalist, industrialized, and generally followed the policies of the US, it was First World. If a country was communist/socialist, industrialized, and generally followed the policies of the USSR, it was Second World. Third world countries were mainly former colonial nations, or tribal nations without particular political alignments with either the US or the USSR. But today, our understanding of the term is often very different than that.
So what’s your definition of a third world nation?
Despite ever evolving definitions, the concept of the third world serves to identify countries that suffer from high infant mortality, low economic development, high levels of poverty, low utilization of natural resources, and heavy dependence on industrialized nations. These are the developing and technologically less advanced nations of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. Third world nations are generally characterized as poor with unstable governments and having high rates of population growth, illiteracy, and disease. A key factor is the lack of a middle class — with impoverished millions in a large lower economic class and a very small elite upper class controlling the country’s wealth and resources.
Third World describes well the country of Nicaragua where we are working in economic development in agriculture.
Nicaragua – population 6.3 million
|
|
Nicaragua |
Canada |
|
Gross national income per capita – $US |
$1870 |
$51,630 |
|
Percent rural population |
43% |
18% |
|
Dependence on agriculture for income |
33% |
2.4% |
|
Percent living in poverty (rural) |
30 to (65) % |
4.9% |
Travelling between Canada and Nicaragua, the reality of these statistics hits us like a punch in the stomach. There is so much of our Canadian normal existence (food for tomorrow, access to education, roads, running water) that just doesn’t exist here. Life in rural Nicaragua is tough! But the people are beautiful and deserve better than this.
So we choose to do our part to help correct what we see as an imbalance. We choose to help develop sustainable agricultural economy in Carazo province of Nicaragua..
Much of the agriculture output in this part of Nicaragua is from small producers (less than 5 acres) living subsistently from the land. Knowledge through experiments, and experience in various aspects of agricultural production has been gained on La Semilla’s small land holding and through a network of contacts with both government and Non-Government Organizations. Strong relationships have been formed with Nicaraguan producers through community development projects, community interaction, and care for the financial well-being of local rural families.
One of the main obstacles to economic growth here is the lack of financial resources. The reason these rural folks don’t progress forward from their subsistence living is a lack of access to credit. Rolled into our cooperative structure is the access to credit for each producer who has passed our prerequisite training. Producers receive a loan of $160/acre for the products we promote that help achieve higher yields and returns. Payment is a few months later as we receive the production from their farms.
The progress is slow – it IS agriculture after all, and we do battle the usual: insects, drought, and marketing challenges. But forage ahead we must. La Semilla Ministries believes in the potential of these producers, and in their capability to generate an income and provide for their families.
Want to find out more? Want to get involved in helping agriculture in Nicaragua? Click «contact us» or «donate» buttons on the home page.
