AID cooperative agreement no. 524-0315-A-00-1343-00 with the Asociacion Nicaraguense de Productores y Exportadores de Productos no Tradicionales (APENN) to strengthen private agricultural organizations and to improve agricultural production in Nicaragua

The grant will support four activities: institution building; market and technical information; crop- specific technical programs; and training. (1) In the area of institution building, the grant will fund partial operating costs, salary support, and equipment to enable APENN to serve its members and to voice NTAE concerns in policy dialogue with private and public sector entities. (2) To enable local farmers (especially APENN members) and foreign buyers to agree to, respectively, grow and purchase specific nontraditional crops, the project will establish a market information center containing an international market price database and a reference library on import regulations and inspection procedures in the United States, Asia, and Europe. The center will also develop with assistance outside the project a service that synthesizes and disseminates this information for a fee and a walk-in service that responds to specific information requests. (3) As a follow on to the information activity, which should result in decisions to grow specific crops, APENN will develop extension reference packages for the production and marketing of particular export crops, such as melons, asparagus, ornamentals, which have been chosen for production by a critical mass of growers. The package will include assistance in eliminating transportation and infrastructural constraints. (4) A variety of training events will be conducted on key export crops and themes such as market analysis, pesticide regulations and use, and postharvest handling, packaging, and processing.