Empowering Young Workers in the Coffee Industry, The Example of CESESMA

This article gives an overview of Harry Shiers' experience working at CESESMA, in development projects for youth employed in the coffee-growing area of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The report describes how youth coffee workers involved in their projects are not treated as service recipients but as active agents of transformation of the reality of their own lives and communities, both now and in the future. The work involves a wide range of methods, including regular workshops, both practical and issue-based, practical work around organic agriculture, traditional crafts, music and dance, and active back-up and support for the promotional work the young people themselves are carrying out in their own communities.