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

iodiversity in this new approach to implementing First World–derived environmental
logic.
Many organic fertilizing, weeding, and pest control techniques are also less
expensive for small-scale farmers. One aspect of the Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Rural
Development Institute) program in San Juan was to certify farms through Rainforest
Alliance. Farmers preserved canopy trees and posted signs that stated, “Se prohibe la
caza de animales de esta finca (Hunting animals is prohibited on this farm)” as part of
this program. The certification from the Rainforest Alliance gave farmers access to
specialty markets that proffer “bird-friendly” coffee.
Commitments and Options for Success
The two main challenges to keeping cooperatively organized, small-scale organic coffee
farming viable are the distrust that results in dishonoring harvest commitments and the
general stabilization of international coffee prices. Desconfianza, or distrust, is a dynamic
that exists throughout Nicaraguan society and likely throughout the postcolonial world.
“Los productores desconfian mucho. Nos ven como una empresa ajena, no como una
organizacion de que ellos son dueños (The farmers are too distrusting. They see us as a
foreign enterprise, not as an organization of which they are the owners),” UCA-San Juan
técnico Santos Chavarria explained to me one day while we were visiting farm
communities in preparation for organic recertification.
As mentioned, farmers work harder and have lower yields under certified organic
and Fair Trade coffee models. In return, they can sell for a better price and have a more
stable demand and can access credit and development programs. Ultimately, they can
reduce the risk of price fluctuations and dependence on chemical farm inputs by
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