Nicaragua Weather

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EVIDENCE POLICY

June, 2012

a note series on learning what works, from the Human Development Network

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Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather?
Severe weather conditions can undo even the best efforts of families to break free of poverty. Households that rely on subsistence or small-scale farming are especially at the mercyof severe weather. Droughts and floods wipe out crops, leaving families hungry or without anything to sell to pay for essentials such as school fees or medicines. Climate changes have made weather even more variable in many countries, exacerbating problems such as droughts, extreme temperatures and flooding. Policymakers seeking to offset the unexpected have increasingly used cash transferprograms to help families through difficult times. But what makes a difference in the long-term? Are small grants or training programs effective methods to help farm households develop non-agricultural businesses, thereby enabling them to better manage weather shocks? To understand what might allow families to better manage risks, the World Bank supported an evaluation of a pilot program in Nicaragua toencourage rural households to diversify beyond small-scale farming. The project found that two years after the program ended, households that received vocational training or investment grants to start non-agricultural businesses were better protected against the negative effects of severe drought than families that only received conditional cash transfers. These results suggest that helpingfarmers develop other income-generating different businesses can be an effective and sustainable approach to reducing poverty by protecting them against the financial repercussions of severe weather and climate changes.

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Context Why Weather and Why Nicaragua?
Bad weather can destroy farmers’ livelihoods, propelling families deeper intopoverty and hurting their children’s chances of moving out of poverty. Managing the risk of droughts, severe winters, or floods and landslides isn’t easy. Climate change is affecting the intensity and frequency of these already severe weather conditions, making it that much more difficult for small farmers. Adoption of new crops, different agricultural practices or weather insurance programs areapproaches that some countries are testing, but these aren’t focused on helping help families develop alternate, non-farming, income sources. In Nicaragua, the second poorest country in Latin America after Haiti, poverty is compounded by weathDid You Know…
42% of Nicaragua’s population lives in rural areas. 75% of rural families rely on agriculture for their livelihood. 2 out of every 3 peopleresiding in rural areas are poor.
(National Institute of Statistics, Nicaragua, 2009)

er conditions. Temperatures have increased, rainfall has become increasingly irregular, and the window for the country’s two annual crop cycles has shortened, further constraining the ability of farmers to rely on subsistence farming crops to meet their needs. The issue is critical because the majority ofNicaragua’s poor—who make up almost half of the country’s 5.8 million people—are concentrated in rural areas. Many are small-scale farmers who don’t have irrigation systems for their crops, leaving them especially vulnerable to droughts. This impact evaluation focused on rural communities in northwest Nicaragua, where more than 90 percent of households rely on semi-subsistence agriculture. Althoughfamilies in this area knew the risks of agriculture, including that of losing an entire crop to drought, relatively few had managed to develop outside sources of income.

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Case Study Nicaragua
The Nicaraguan Government created a one-year pilot program targeting farming families affected by a severe drought in 2004. The program sought to help families cope with...