i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

Conclusion
Because the plant and the production techniques were brought in from the outside,
replacing the traditional local subsistence practices, coffee was once a threat to native
Segovians’ well-being. Now it is promoted as a remedy to their economic, political, and
climatological woes. The FSLN Agrarian Reform placed campesinos in farm ownership
scenarios. The 1990s neoliberal shift has forced these farmers to compete for financing
and trade on the open market. Natural disasters and international speculation
reinvigorated the need for cooperative and collective efforts to at least partially
ameliorate the external factors that impinge upon their farms’ survival. There are also
local mechanisms for resilience that arise from Segovian farmers’ historical position in
the formation of the Nicaraguan nation and economic structure.
The discourse of organic coffee production resembles revolutionary era notions of
struggle and sacrifice for the greater good. This agricultural movement resonates with
farmers such as Danilo, who understand their role in a larger national economic and
environmental effort. However, the challenge remains in making these productive
innovations accessible and intelligible to the poorer classes of coffee farmers in Las
Segovias.
The stabilization of market prices has enabled farmers to sell on the open market
again. Participation in farmer-owned cooperatives decreased in San Juan as farmers
abandoned organic certification requirements and returned to leveraging the investment
in chemical farm inputs against their upcoming harvest estimates. This response to
market values indicates that there is only a tentative acceptance of the potential benefits
of organic farming among coffee growers in San Juan.
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