Luis Flores, an MSU doctoral student who is the Nicaraguan country coordinator for PFID-FV, talks with farming families at a market in Managua. Photo by Sue Nichols, University Relations.

MSU international development project transforms Nicaraguan farms — and U.S. grocery stores

Contact: Sue Nichols, University Relations, (517) 353-8942, nichols@msu.edu

An MSU international agriculture initiative is meeting three needs at once. Those of:

• Small-scale farmers in developing countries who need better, more stable markets;
• Supermarkets that need new suppliers of fruits and vegetables; and
• Consumers who are accustomed to produce regardless of season, and increasingly are demanding ethnic foods one considered exotic.

MSU's Institute of International Agriculture's project - Partnerships for
Food Industry Development (PFID)-Fruits and Vegetables - brings a
consumer-driven system to small farmers in developing Latin American and African countries with:

• $4.1 million to aid Nicaraguan farmers What is PFID About Nicaragua El Verbo Orphanage USAID Photo Gallery

  Science and technology transfer;
• Practical training; and
• An introduction to the lucrative, yet often mysterious, global market.

PFID (pronounced PEA-fid) gives supermarkets access to produce when they need it the way they need it.

In return, farmers get a way to both feed their families and help jump start struggling economies.

One program in Nicaragua is an excellent way to understand the success - and the potential of the approach.