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

organizational models that have been in existence since the mid-twentieth century (Jasny
1949) but face many challenges because there is no innately Segovian model for social or
professional affiliation. An amalgam of foreign-introduced models and local structures
might emerge and persevere in the region, but only when local farmers can contribute in
the formation of sustainable development discourses rather than being recipients of
models whose terms are set in the global centers of power.
All entities along the coffee commodity chain stand to gain from the hard work
and risk that the farmer endures to secure an abundant and high-quality harvest. This is
why so much effort is taken to secure farmers’ devotion to coffee export as a national
cause. However, there has been a notable change in the discourse of the national coffee
industry since the Sandinista era.
Right after the FSLN victory, farmers, laborers, students, professionals, and
volunteers joined efforts to get out the harvest (“sacar la cosecha”) for the benefit of
building a “new Nicaragua” (Rocha 2001). Today, market forces drive coordination of
efforts to “sacar la cosecha” in order to repay international debt and regain high standing
in the International Coffee Organization. During the Sandinista era, citizens rallied
around coffee production for the benefit of national autonomy and economic stability.
Presently, the industry rallies to keep farmers “working hard” to ensure that the revenue
from taxes and expenses can serve the interests of global capitalist enterprises. The notion
of hard work and devotion to the coffee export industry has shifted from one that
supported the autonomy of a local community or the national community to one that is
based in the dominant capitalist discourse of competition, individualism, and self-
determination. In essence, if the individual farmer succeeds, the industry succeeds.
195