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

production and marketing of organically produced coffee has occurred in the past and
continues to corrode internal relations in (and between) base-level and second-level co-
ops (as shown in the celebration for El Naranjo Preschool, for example).
The shift toward organic coffee farming and the organization of cooperatives
would seem to encourage farmers to get involved in the participatory democratic
operations of their cooperatives. But this ideal is seldom realized since smaller farmers
cannot afford to leave their farms to attend the operation or administration of their
cooperatives. Technical support often also does not reach the more remote grower
groups.. Santos, the UCA técnico, admitted that he favored conducting site visits with
nearby farmers who have more expansive operations. “De esa forma, cubro más terreno
(I cover more ground that way), he clarified to the FLO inspector (Chapter 8).
I have also shown that the image of poor, small farmers is used to attract
development aid and funding. Co-ops such as UCA make sincere efforts to invest in
social programs and infrastructure for Cooperativa Agropecuaria Sandinista (CAS)
communities like El Naranjo, but for many reasons these communities remain embroiled
in land conflicts, labor issues, and disputes over deficiencies in product quantity and
quality. Throughout my research I heard many people criticize the Sandinista Agrarian
Reform for simply giving land and property away without building capacity, thus keeping
people dependent on external sources of support. In many ways, the shift to organic
production has followed the same tendency. Farmers who are not contributors to the
design of sustainable economic development projects are likely to abandon the model,
especially should a preferable option arise. In fact, after the CLUSA project ended in
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