Seeds for Progress Foundation Leading COVID-19 Relief Effort in Nicaragua

Photo courtesy of the Seeds for Progress Foundation.

The education-focused Nicaraguan nonprofit Seeds for Progress and the Mercon Coffee Group have launched a COVID-19 relief project affecting coffee-growing communities in Nicaragua as they prepare for harvest season.

With a €100,000 ($118,000 USD) relief fund allocated by Dutch development bank FMO, the project is expected to impact more than 4,000 Nicaraguan coffee farmers and their families from now until the coffee harvest begins in September.

The Seeds for Progress Foundation, which was created by the Mercon Coffee Group, promotes access to education facilities and programming in rural coffee-growing communities in Nicaragua.

According to the organizations, the new relief fund will be used for a three-pronged COVID-19 effort involving communication, awareness and education, reaching various coffee communities throughout the country.

The fund will also allow for the supply of COVID-19-preventive hygiene kits and portable sinks in coffee production areas during the upcoming harvest.

Photo courtesy of the Seeds for Profit Foundation.

“Coffee producers are agents of change who have always been at the forefront of the progress of their communities,” Seeds for Progress Foundation Director Rosa Rivas said in an announcement of the fund this week. “We are proud of their work and of being able to develop alliances that contribute to the well-being of their families​. We are honored to channel these funds and give back to the communities that give the world so much.”