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

Introduction: The Fieldwork
I first became interested in economic development in post-revolutionary Nicaragua (the
war ended in 1989-90) as I prepared for my dissertation research. In the 1990s, capitalist-
driven development programs in Nicaragua followed the growing neo-liberal tendency of
many countries in the Western Hemisphere. My interest peaked when I discovered small-
scale organic coffee farming to be a “First World”-sponsored alternative development
model that promoted economic development while invoking the liberationist rhetoric of
the Sandinista era (1979–1990).
My initial trips to the coffee-producing parts of Las Segovias, in Northern
Nicaragua, were funded through the Latin American Institute of the University of New
Mexico and the Tinker Foundation between 2001 and 2003. I accompanied extension
agents and agronomists to the remote settings where the Cooperative League of the
United States of America (CLUSA) is working. CLUSA is the international wing of the
National Cooperative Board of America (NCBA). It operates with USAID support
throughout Latin American, Africa, and Asia to assist in the formation of primary
producer and artisan cooperatives in developing nations. CLUSA-Nicaragua was a
valuable point of entry that enabled me to meet and work with small-scale coffee farmers.
CLUSA-Nicaragua’s main focus was to provide technical assistance in organic
production and organizational training to small farmers, especially in times of
international market instability. They specialized in coffee and cacao growers in the
damp northern highlands and vegetable growers in the arid, coastal lowlands. Ultimately,
my focus would be on the ways in which CLUSA’s sustainable development model has
persevered even after international market values stabilized in 2004.
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